Yet, within just 20 years of the conflagration, Chicago surpassed Philadelphia to become the nation's second largest city. It created a 2,000-acre swath of devastation that included the central business district and left 100,000 homeless. O'Leary's cow kicking over a lantern and starting the blaze has been discredited, and the exact cost still remains in question, one thing is certain: the fire was one of the worst disasters in U.S. And no event looms larger in that past than one so catastrophic it's still notorious today: the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.Īlthough the story of Mrs. In a way, it is a crystal ball, only instead of the future, it is the past-represented by Chicago's brick, glass and steel towers-that is reflected in its surface. People do indeed find it difficult not to touch its highly polished sides.īritish artist Anish Kapoor designed “Cloud Gate” partly as a mirror to Chicago's extraordinary skyline, which explains why sightseers gaze into its shiny, light-bending contours as if it were a crystal ball. Likened, not unkindly, to a big silver bean, it has become a city icon recognized around the world. It may seem as if you've stepped into a science-fiction thriller, but such a sight has become commonplace in Chicago's Millennium Park since the mammoth “Cloud Gate” sculpture was completed in 2006. Surrounding it, curious onlookers stroke its gleaming surface as if mesmerized by someone-or something-inside. Lake Michigan, that sparkling inland sea, laps at the city's doorstep along 29 miles of shoreline adorned with spacious parks, marinas and public beaches.Īrchitecture Tours Among Things to Do in ChicagoImagine walking through a park when a huge silver object appears before you. Skyscrapers stretch toward the heavens-four are more than a thousand feet tall-while shorter buildings loom large as unrivaled works of art as much as architecture.
You can't visit the Windy City today and find much that's small about it. They have no magic to stir men's blood,” advised one of Chicago's leading architects nearly a century ago. Guide to ChicagoGuide to Chicago “Make no little plans.
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