Chicago, Illinois
July 16 & 19, 2009
July 16, east of Metra 56th Street Station, between the Metra tracks and the Science and Industry Museum. Nice digs.
The Museum of Science and Industry was the Fine Arts Palace at the 1893 Columbian Exposition, and is the only surviving example of the vast and imposing "White City" designed by Daniel Burnham. The buildings were all temporary, intended to last only a single season and constructed of wood frames with chicken-wire matrices covered over with papier-mache and plaster. The fair's promoters opted to go for a second season, and by the end of that time weather had begun to take its toll. Plans to make the complex permanent died when most of it was destroyed by fire. The Palace of Fine Arts, alone, was reconstructed as a permanent building.
For a good read, check out Erik Larson's <i>The Devil in the White City</i>. In addition to a fact-based suspenseful account of the activities of a cunning serial killer who preyed upon unaccompanied young women who came to the Exposition, Larson presents an interesting narrative of the egos and political manipulations that were part of creating the event.
Heading west on 56th Street:
Almost at my destination:
From the 4th floor of the DCAM Building at the University of Chicago Medical Center. At the time of my first visit here, in 1996, a six-storey parking garage was under construction on this site. Since then, the parking garage has outlived its usefulness and has been razed to make way for something else.
June 19 - Not much happening on Sunday afternoon at South Shore's platforms in Millennium Station.
Back into the daylight to kill a couple hours before train time.
Common streetwalkers on Michigan Avenue, of all places -- and in broad daylight, yet!
A pleasant afternoon in Millennium Park, ranking high among the great public spaces in the U.S.
Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate ("The Bean") fascinates people of all sizes, shapes, and ages..
Pritzker Pavilion, by architect Frank Gehry.
Serpentine Bridge.
'Bye from Chicago!
Linear Mode
