Chicago Town

  

Taking some time to travel and see what the middle part (ish) of the country is doing and thinking; Chicago was a welcome change of scene.
    Seeing the difference in buildings and attitude pulls one out of the everyday and gets you to see and interact with the destination. Maybe it was just the stupid grin on my face as I wandered between the hotel, art museum and the Miracle Mile but I never get Hey's, Hi's, or Hello there's in other cities, just C-town. Impressive. What was also impressive was the city: there are so many other pictures; so please, click though to see them with details and comments.

  Among the many buildings there was such diversity. Plenty of Deco (plenty), a little Victorian, Post Modern, and so on, and so on. The picture above is the Radisson an interesting mix of design. I only wonder what it would look like if the balconies had vegetation. It would be the western equivalent of the hanging gardens of Babylon. 

  Ah,  "The Bean",  a confounding structure that brings a smile to all that gaze upon it. : )

Yup I'm in there somewhere.

Many, many, many revolving doors. Even in tiny coffee shops. All the better to keep the heat in.....

And then there is "The 

Rookery".

Lot's of history here. Some of it original. Some of it covered by Frank Loyd Wright's remodel. All of it stunning. Both the covered and the covering. 

   Elevator detail of the preferred namesake.

   Interior atrium skylight.

   The worst thing is the average Joe can't go past the lobby to see the rest. What a shame that gaining personal knowledge of such a place is privilege and not openly shared.

And that is why there are museums! 

The old exchange room at the Art Institute of Chicago.

I wasn't impressed. I was stunned. But it isn't called "Stunnedism" now is it?

I am not one to ever be impressed by a celebrity, till now. Mr. Van Gogh it was an honor. My piddly little camera is NOTHING compared to the presence this work has.

The bridges of the Chicago River. The forms and details as well as the differences are all worthy of close investigation.

A little Deco here....

...a swooping line there....

...some granite, some concrete....

... but mostly details that are missing form today's buildings. Hmmmmmm.