Friday, May 08, 2009

van Berkel Burnham Pavilion Rising in Millennium Park

With a special thanks to the indefatigable Bob Johnson for his stunning aerial shots, we bring you these pictures of the construction of the pavilion designed by UNStudio's Ben van Berkel that will help commemorate the hundredth anniversary of Daniel Burnham's 1909 of Plan of Chicago. To the left, you can also see workmen putting the finishing touches on Renzo Piano's 600-foot-long Nichols Bridgeway linking Millennium Park to the new Modern Wing of the Art Institute.
Gratuitous Chinese dinosaur shot
The plywood base is going in, the steel structure rising. Eventually, everything will be painted a high gloss white, but for now you can see the materials in the full glory of their natural color, the diagonal members that will be concealed beneath the hanging chads of the final design, and imagine the roof that will mirror the plinth to create a sandwich of cityscape views through the pavilion's interior.Van Berkel's pavilion is one of an unmatched pair, the second being a nomadic tent-like design by Zaha Hadid, that are both set to make their debut June 19th.

1 comment:

Dan said...

Y'know, those railings around the dinosaur sculpture totally ruin it. Maybe they shouldn't be putting things like that in the park if they require that kind of "protection" (or whatever the purpose may be).