Millennium Park
A Chicago park built on a railyard roof, holding a mirrored steel bean, a Gehry bandshell and two towers that spit water.
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The park is built over an active railyard and parking structure, which is why it counts as one of the largest rooftop gardens anywhere. It opened in 2004, four years late and roughly three times over budget. Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate - universally called the Bean - is a 110-tonne mirrored steel form whose seamless surface took years of grinding and polishing; Kapoor disliked the nickname. Jaume Plensa's Crown Fountain has two fifteen-metre glass towers showing video faces of a thousand Chicago residents, which periodically purse their lips and release a jet of water. Frank Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion has a trellis of steel pipes carrying speakers over the lawn so the sound works outdoors.
What you actually see
- Cloud Gate - 110 tonnes of mirrored steel, seamlessly polished.
- Crown Fountain - faces of a thousand residents, spouting water.
- Gehry's Pritzker Pavilion - a pipe trellis carrying sound over the lawn.
- A park on a railyard roof - among the largest rooftop gardens anywhere.
When to go
April to October; summer concerts are free on the lawn. Half a day.
Honest expectations
Cloud Gate is crowded from morning to night and has been closed for periods of maintenance. Winter closes the fountain. Free concerts fill the lawn early. It is small - the surrounding parks add more.
Nearby
The Art Institute is adjacent; Maggie Daley Park is east over the bridge.
What to pack for Millennium Park
Chosen from what this place is for. Tap a kit for the full checklist.
Opening times, ticket prices and seasonal closures change - check the official source before you go: official site.