Things You Didn't Know About Millennium Park

Just because your team got second place at Chili ’s trivia one Wednesday night does n’t signify you make out everything about everything . After all , did you know that “ The Bean ” in Millennium Park is actually named " Cloud Gate " ? ! Chyea , thought so– oh youdidknow that ? Well , Smartypants McSmartypants , here are a few facts that you by all odds donotknow about Millennium Park , all of which your congeneric will find quite fascinating when you ’re ineluctably dish out as their go guide Downtown .

The interior of the Bean is largely wooden

As you could plausibly secernate , the bean plant is made out of metal , which is a wizardly substance that thrive and contracts as it heats and chill throughout the year . Inside , “ The Bean ” actually looksmore like an old pirate ship , containing a wooden frame and beams that help defend the 110 - net ton structure as it shrinks and expands . At one point during construction , there was also an architect ’s desk and workspace jell up in there ( not bad for an spot , eh ? ) . The outside has been welded shut and polished to be seamless , and term state that the 168 - objet d’art social organization remain standing until 3006 . Whatever detritus is leave behind inside will just have to serve as a time capsule for our foreign overlord .

The idea for Millennium Park occurred during a dentist visit

Local lore – which was back up by a2011Chicago Tribunearticle– says that Mayor Daley da II was at his dental practitioner ’s high - rise office on Michigan Avenue when he realized just how much of an eyesore the railroad train terminus across the street was . At that moment , the idea for a beautiful new park dawned on him . There ’s no give-and-take on whether he ’d had any laugh gas during his visit …

The Pritzker Pavilion’s speakers are faster than the speed of sound

When the Pritzker Pavilion was built in 2004 , the audio apparatus was the crème de la crème of legal systems , and it still pack a serious slug to this day . In fact , phone is actually transmitted through the systemfaster than it travels through the melodic line , so you ’d actually hear the music preferably if you ’re sit down in the back of the lawn near a utterer versus waiting for it to come off the stage . The bandshell ’s treillage , from which the talker hang , also scares off geese , so visitant do n’t have to deal with poop trouble throughout the year .

The park is technically a giant rooftop garden

Before construction start , the space presently occupied by the park was basically a series of railway tracks , like the ones you may still see adjacent to the Art Institute . The Millennium Station train entrepot is still there , along with a subterranean parking service department that ’s fit out with 4,000 parking outer space , and the Harris Theater , which has about 1,500 seats – all of which are located beneath the park . The park itself rests atop 4 ft of surface soil , as well as several feet of Styrofoam fill that help reduce the overall weight of the “ rooftop ” structure .

“The Bean” is so popular that it got ripped off

Listen , China : we ’re blandish , butisn’t this copyright infringementa little flake obvious ? A bodily structure with pretty much the same chassis , size , and metallic finishing was rear in the crude oil - producing Chinese city of Karamay in 2015 . Taiwanese functionary said that the firearm was inspired by an oil color house of cards , and denied that any copying go down , which direct " Cloud Gate " architect Anish Kapoor to reply , “ yeah - huh , ” and China resolve back , “ nuh - uh ! ” ( Or something close to that . )

The architects' visions for the park were not perfectly realized

Case in point : when Kapoor was notified by aSun - Timesreporter that topical anesthetic were calling the piece “ The Bean , ” he react that the nickname was “ all stupid . ” Kapoor also wanted to in the beginning put " Cloud Gate " in Lurie Garden , but parking lot planners were come to that the ft dealings would disrupt the garden . Aside from " Bean " drama , when designer Jaume Plensa designed " Crown Fountain " ( aka the falls with the faces ) , he envisioned it as a position of quiet observation . Uhhh , sorry Mr. Plensa , but you ’ve jolly much built a water parkland that ’s filled with yell kid all summertime .

You can rent Wrigley Plaza for $250 an hour

Located in the northwesterly corner of the park , Wrigley Plaza consists of a grass lawn and a peristyle of Doric - style pillar that tolerate nearly 40 ft tall . The peristyle is also a replica of one that stood in the same stain from 1917 to 1953 , which is kind of nerveless . But what ’s really nerveless is that you may rent out certain parts of the park for individual event . And while the intact Pritzker Pavilion ( with lawn , stage , and choral - rehearsal elbow room ) be $ 40,000 to book ( and $ 15,000 in additional fees ) , Wrigley Plaza can be had for up to three hour at $ 250 an hr . Piñata political party , anyone ?

The towers for “Crown Fountain” are giant LCD screens (and no, you can’t get your face on them)

Jaume Plensa ’s " Crown Fountain " sport the faces of a cross - segment of Chicagoans who were filmed close - up in 2003 - 04 by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa while they sit back in a tooth doctor chair . The approximation for the faces was actually inspired by gargoyles , which we ’re not certain to take as a full-grown diss or not . However , if you front close , you ’ll notice that the towers are in reality jumbo LCD screen made up of a big grid of small reddened , blue , and green lights that brighten and slur to project the right images .

You can actually take a shower in the park

We ’re not talking about lather up under a " Crown Fountain " falls . Located in the northeasterly box of the park , the McDonald ’s Cycle Center is a handy little stain that offers bicycle rental , bike education , and guided tours . There are also on - site showers and locker that can be rented , so you’re able to get a good sweat going during your morning time ride to workplace , and still take the air into the office looking as fresh as Puff Daddy wear a cause made of daisy .

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Chicago Bean Cloud Gate