I first saw this in a completely computerized rendering in the singular, incomparable online video called The Third & the Seventh. This is part of the Milwaukee Art Museum. Take it away, Wikipedia:
…designed by Santiago Calatrava (his first completed project in the United States), which opened on May 4, 2001. … The structure contains a movable, wing-like brise soleil which opens up for a wingspan of 217 feet during the day, folding over the tall, arched structure at night or during inclement weather. The brise soleil has since become a symbol for the city of Milwaukee.
Mykala is in this picture for scale — this building was once the department store Gimbels. According to Wikipedia, this Milwaukee store was where “Adam Gimbel had first found success (and alleged to be the most profitable Gimbel store)…”. It became a Marshall Field’s for a little while, and is now a Marriott Residence Inn. You can see at the top of this picture the large, ornate coffers that make up the architrave of the Roman façade. The curtains are covering the capitals of some huge ionic columns. They don’t build buildings like they used to.
Mykala made this incredible vegan quiche for my birthday. Wish I had gotten the depth of field right on this one, but I think the picture still captures the deliciousness.
This is a panoramic picture stitched from ten photographs, all depicting Millenium Park in Chicago on the evening of May 27, 2012. Mykala and I walked down from our hotel through the muggy air to sit on the pristine grass and listen to some great music. The night was perfect: the setting sun, the still air, little ones running around on the grass, couples eating picnic dinners on foot-high tables. I’m told the performers were the “Northwestern University Chorus and Symphony Orchestra with the Bournemouth Symphony Chorus” — and they were great. The material, however, was not good. Very dissonant, difficult material about 9/11, former president Bush, etc. Not exactly what you expect to hear for symphony music in a park. The piece was Richard Blackford’s oratorio Not in Our Time. I would not recommend it. I would recommend Millenium Park.
Afterward, Mykala and I strode the luxurious high-rises and their urban enclave, talking excitedly about our future together. This is the kind of night you go on a vacation for.
