Friday, June 26, 2009

Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) - South Garden

AIC - South Garden




Art Insitute of Chicago (AIC) has some beautiful gardens

SOUTH GARDEN 

The South Garden at the Art Institute of Chicago was built in 1962. 
It was designed by the master landscape architect Dan Kiley.





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Fountain of the Great Lakes - by Lorado Taft




Fountain of the Great Lakes - by Lorado Taft

The centerpiece of the South Garden is the sculpture 
"Fountain of the Great Lakes" by Lorado Taft
Bronze work created between 1907-1913.
It is an allegorical sculpture representing the five Great Lakes.
The five women are so arranged that the water flows through them 
in the same way water passes through the Great Lakes.


Landscape by Dan Kiley / AIC South Garden

Granite planters with hawthorns, in orange gravel / AIC South Garden


Landscape by Dan Kiley

The serene garden is the work of landscape architect Dan Kiley. 
There are granite planters with hawthorns, in orange gravel.
A perfect getaway from the busy Chicago traffic, in the heart of the city. 


About Dan Kiley's style of work, Wikipedia informs...
... regular geometry was at the heart of his design. Like his predecessors Le Corbusier and Le Notre, Kiley believed that geometry was inherent in humans. It was the structure one could use to gain comprehension and create stabilization of surroundings. Kiley also believed that humans were part of nature, rather than being separate from it. Rather than imitating curvilinear forms of nature, he asserted mathematical order into landscape. 

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AIC South Garden

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AIC - South Garden






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