Chicago Riverwalk & Chicago River Esplanade

Chicago River Esplanade..


Chicago Riverwalk..

I was under the impression that Chicago Riverwalk and Chicago River Esplanade would mean the same thing ... but was amused to find out that at least when it comes to Chicago, these terms are not interchangeable ... and are used to refer to the north and south banks of the Chicago River respectively ... By that I mean ..

Chicago Riverwalk.. refers to the walkway along the south bank of the Chicago River ... and extends from N Lake Shore Drive to Franklin Street ... As such, it runs along the lower Wacker Drive.
# For more on Chicago Riverwalk ... click here ...
# For Public Art along the Chicago Riverwalk.. click here..

Chicago River Esplanade.. refers to the walkway along the north bank of the Chicago River ... and extends from N Lake Shore Drive to Michigan Avenue ... It's officially named as "DuSable Founder's Way" ... It includes a continuous river walkway with a series of landscaped cascading plazas ...
# For more on Chicago River Esplanade ... click here ...
# For Public Art along the Chicago River Esplanade.. click here..

Chicago River Esplanade / DuSable Founder's Way

The Chicago River Esplanade is located along the north bank of the Chicago River between Michigan Avenue and the N Lakeshore Drive bridge. It's officially named as "DuSable Founder's Way". It includes a continuous river walkway with a series of landscaped cascading plazas..

As we walk down the stairways from the north-east of the Michigan Avenue bridge, there's a signage "Honorary: DuSable Founders Way". It can be seen in the image below, on the right corner..

Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable [1745 -1818] popularly known as "The Father of Chicago", was the first known non-native settler in the area which is now Chicago, Illinois. Du Sable was recognized by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago as the Founder of Chicago on October 26, 1968..

A bust of DuSable, by sculptor Erik Blome, as also been installed [in 2009] on the north-eastern corner of the bridge..
For more, click here..

Du Sable Homesite [at the north-east corner of Michigan Avenue bridge] has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

The bronze plaque reads..
Point Du Sable House ...
"Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite has been dedicated a National Historic Landmark. This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America
1977, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior".

Kinzie Mansion..
Near this site stood Kinzie Mansion 1784-1832, home of Pointe Du Saible, Le Mai, and John Kinzie. Chicago`s `First Civilian'. Here was born, in 1805, the city`s first white child, Ellen Marion Kinzie.
Erected by Chicago`s Charter Jubilee
Authenticated by Chicago Historical Society - 1937.

On Friday, October 15, 2010, the Michigan Avenue bridge was officially renamed as DuSable bridge.

I find this walkway [DuSable Founders Way] to be a very beautiful relaxing place to just walk or sit on the chairs and enjoy the river and cityscape..

Walking on the DuSable Way, one can find..
- Chicago Rising from the Lake by Milton Horn..
- Nicholas J. Melas Centennial Plaza and Founatin..

At the eastern end of the walk a DuSable Park is under construction.

RELATED LINKS..
# Chicago Riverwalk & Chicago River Esplanade..
# For Public Art along the Chicago Riverwalk..
# For Public Art along the Chicago River Esplanade..

Public Art on the North Bank of Chicago River..

The Chicago River Esplanade is located along the north bank of the Chicago River between Michigan Avenue and the N Lakeshore Drive bridge. It's officially named as "DuSable Founder's Way". It includes a continuous river walkway with a series of landscaped cascading plazas..

Public Art along the Chicago River Esplanade includes ...

Bust of Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable..
By Kirk Blome
Installed: 1909
Location: Pioneer Court
DuSable is called the founder of Chicago ..
# For more on DuSable sculpture.. click here..
# For more on the site of DuSable House ..click here..
# For more, click here..

The Michigan Avenue bridge and the the bas relief sculpture on the bridgetower houses commemorating important events in Chicago history ..
Defense, Regeneration, The Pioneers, and The Discoverers..
By James Earle Fraser and Henry Hering..
Completed: 1928, Carved limestone
Location: Michigan Avenue Bridge
# For more, click here..

Chicago Rising from the Lake..
By Milton Horn ..
This bronze bas-relief is symbolic of the city of Chicago. The female figure represents Chicago emerging reborn from the bottom of Lake Michigan following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 ....
For more, click here ..

The Centennial Plaza and Fountain...
Every hour on the hour, from 10:00 to 14:00 and again from 17:00 to midnight, the esplanade's Centennial Fountain shoots a massive arc of water across the river for 10 minutes.
For more, click here ...

DuSable Park: This 3.5 acre park is located where the Chicago River meets Lake Michigan. It was dedicated as parkland in 1988 by the late Mayor Harold Washington. DuSable Park is named after Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable [1745 -1818] The first non-native settler and founding father of Chicago ...

Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame..
For more on Pioneer Court, click here..

RELATED LINKS..
# Chicago Riverwalk & Chicago River Esplanade....
# Public Art along the Chicago Riverwalk....
# Chicago River Esplanade/DuSable Founders Way
# Public Art along the North Bank of Chicago River

Public Art in the Loop

The Loop is now one of the world's largest outdoor museums for contemporary art ...

The year 1967 marks the beginning of a series of outdoor public art pieces installed in the Loop. The first monumental modern sculpture to be unveiled was the "Picasso", in the Civic Center Plaza on August 15, 1967 ...

# Read more .. "Picasso" ... click here ...

Although the Picasso was initially received with scorn and ridicule, it soon became an symbol of Chicago ... and thereafter many more public art pieces were installed in the Loop area ...

Then the year 1974 is very significant, when two important sculptures were installed in the loop ...
# Four Seasons - Marc Chagall
# Flamingo - Alexander Calder
Marc Chagall was present when his sculpture were dedicated to the city of Chicago ...In fact, Chagall had arrived in Chicago several weeks earlier from his studio in France to oversee final details of this massive five-sided mosaic sculpture, which he and his devoted friends, Chicago philanthropists William and Eleanor Wood Prince gifted to the city of Chicago ...
Also Alexander Calder, was present when his bright red "Flamingo" was unveiled ... In fact he arrived at the Federal Center Plaza atop a white-and-gold circus wagon drawn by 40 horses to dedicate his Flamingo, ... [although Pablo Picasso could never make it to the US]...

The 1974 events helped inspire a city ordinance four years later called City of Chicago Percent-for-Art Ordinance ... It requires 1.33 percent of the construction budget for municipal buildings to be used for artwork ... As a result many art pieces are displayed at City Hall, courthouses, libraries, and police and fire stations ...

* NOTE: Most of the informations are gathered from the official website .. Chicago Public Art Program .. click here ..



Four Seasons - by Marc Chagall
Installed: 1974
Location: Exelon Plaza

# Read more .. Four Seasons ... click here ...



Flamingo - by Alexander Calder
Installed: 1974
Location: Federal Plaza

# Read more .... Flamingo .. click here



Batcolumn - by Claes Oldenburg ..
Installed: 1977
Location: Harold Washington Social Security Administration Building Plaza
600 W. Madison St..
Art-in-Architecture Program ...

# Read more .. Batcolumn ... click here ...



Sounding Sculpture - by Harry Bertoia
Installed: 1975
Location: Aon Center Plaza [formerly Amoco Building Plaza], 200 E. Randolph St.

# Read more .. Sounding Sculpture ... click here ...



Monument with standing Beast - by Jean Dubuffet
Installed: 1989
Location: James R Thompson Center Plaza
Art-in-Architecture Program

# Read more ... Monument with standing beast ... click here ..




The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus - by Roger Brown
Completed: 1991
Location: 120 N LaSalle Building ...
* I've also read this mural named as "Arts and Science of the Ancient World" ..

# Read more ... The Flight of Daedalus and Icarus ... click here ...



Free Form - by Richard Hunt
Installed: 1993
Location: 160 N. LaSalle St.
Art-in-Architecture Program ...

# Read more .. Free Form ... click here ...

For many more pieces of Public Art in the Loop, please check out the .. List of Public Art images displayed in the blog .. click here ..

Chicago South - Bronzeville / Meridian VII (2002) - By Ed McCullough

 

Meridian VII - by Ed McCullough

Installed: 2002

Location: Chicago Police HQ Building, 

35th Street and Michigan Avenue

Commissioned by City of Chicago Percent for Art program.

Plazas in the Loop, Chicago

PLAZAS IN THE LOOP..
# The Daley Plaza .. click here
# The Federal Plaza
# Exelon Plaza..
# One Financial Place Plaza


The Daley Center Plaza ...
Richard J. Daley Civic Center consists mostly of courtrooms and county offices. The Cook County Law Library and County Sheriff's office also reside here.

The Daley Center Plaza is a gathering place for events, all year round .... It serves more than 10,000 people a day ... In winter, the Chicago city Christmas tree is raised in this square, as seen in the image ... The plaza also has some important pieces of public art like ...
# The Picasso .. click here ...
# The Eternal Flame .. click here ..
# The Fountain .. click here ..


The Federal Plaza ...
It's surrounded by three Federal Center buildings: the Everett McKinley Dirksen Building, the John C. Kluczynski Building, and the Loop Post Office ... All the buildings are designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ... All these structures have Mies characteristic style of steel frame and curtain walls ... The Post Office, a unitary space with a central core, is typical of Mies’s reductivist concept of the single-story pavilion.

The Federal plaza has the famous sculpture ..
# The Flamingo - by Alexander Calder .. click here ...


The Exelon Plaza, also known as the Chase Tower Plaza, is one of the most beautiful public squares in the Loop.
# Exelon Plaza...
# The mosaic sculpture "Four Seasons" - by Marc Chagall ... click here ..
# The Clock .. click here ..
# The Fountain ... click here ..


One Financial Place Plaza..
# San Marco-II, by Ludovico De Luigi..

Chicago South - Bronzeville / Haymarket Riot Monument - by John Gelert

Haymarket Riot Monument  - by John Gelert

Haymarket Riot Monument - by John Gelert

Location: Courtyard of Chicago Police Training Center

Location: 1300 W Jackson Blvd

At the base is the inscription..

In the name of the people of Illinois I command peace.

Chicago - Near North / Pioneer Court / Site of Point Du Sable House ...

Many bronze plaques can be seen at the 401 N. Michigan Avenue Plaza [formerly known as the Equitable Building Plaza], also known as the Pioneer Court. These plaques mark the pioneers of Chicago's birth, growth and greatness..



As one of the bronze plaque reads ... Point Du Sable House ...
"Jean Baptiste Point Du Sable Homesite has been dedicated a National Historic Landmark. This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America
1977, National Park Service, United States Department of the Interior"..

Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable [1745 -1818] ... popularly known as "The Father of Chicago", was the first known settler in the area which is now Chicago, Illinois. Du Sable was recognized by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago as the Founder of Chicago on October 26, 1968..

Chicago Riverwalk / Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium

Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium

Civil Engineering Monument of the Millennium

by the American Society of Civil Engineers, 1852

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago's

WASTEWATER SYSTEM

One of the finest example of how civil engineering ingenuity

shaped the development of society's quality of life in the 20th century ".. 

Designated: Sep 19, 2001

Chicago Riverwalk / Chicago Remembers Memorial - Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Chicago Remembers /Vietnam Veterns Memorial

Chicago Remembers Memorial

Vietnam Veterans Memorial 

Chicago Remembers Memorial is dedicated to all evterans of the armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. It features the names of 2,936 Illinois veterans who died in the conflict.

Memorial was dedicated on Nov 11, 2005

and is a tribute to all veterans who served in the Vietnam War

Designed by: Ross Barney and Jankowski Architects

Location: Wacker Drive at Wabash,  Chicago, IL 60601

Temporary Exhibit / Chicago - Pioneer Court / King Lear - by J. Seward Johnson

King Lear [20-foot tall]

Sculptor: J. Seward Johnson

Location: Pioneer Court

Installed: May, 2008 

This sculpture "King Lear", has been removed now and replaced by another sculpture by the same artist Steward Johnson, named "God Bless America", which is based on the famous painting by Grant Wood, "American Gothic"...

Michigan Avenue Bridge: sculptures and markers..

The Michigan Avenue bridge, a designated Chicago Landmark, has many interesting features. Here the focus is on the sculptures and markers on the bridge that spells it's history and engineering feats ..



Chicago Landmark..
The Michigan Avenue bridge and the Wacker Drive Esplanade was designated as a Chicago Landmark in 1991 ...
Conceived as part of Daniel Burhnam's 1900 plan of Chicago the Michigan Avenue Bridge and the wacker Drive were designed to improve transportation and to enhance Chicago's riverfront. The opening of the bridge in 1920, followed by the esplanade in 1926 and the monumental sculptures in 1928 provided an impressive gateway to North Michigan Avenue and led to its development of city's premier throughfares.
# For more.. click here..



Most famous is the relief sculptures named..
Defense, Regeneration, The Pioneers, and The Discoverers..
By James Earle Fraser and Henry Hering..
Completed: 1928
Description: Carved limestone
Each bridge tower is adorned with a bas relief sculpture commemorating important events in Chicago history..
Southwest Tower: Defence - By Henry Hering
Southeast Tower: Regeneration - By Henry Hering
Northwest Tower: Pioneers - By James Earle Fraser
Northeast Tower: Discoverers - By James Earle Fraser
# For more.. click here..



A plaque in honor of Louis Jolliet & Pere Jacques Marquette..
the first white men to pass through the Chicago River in 1673..
Location: Northeast corner, Michigan Avenue bridge..
# For more .. click here..



A plaque in honor of La Salle & Henry De Tonti..
who passed through the Chicago River on their way to the Mississipp in 1681..
Location: Southwest corner, Michigan Avenue bridge..
# For more.. click here..



Celebrating the date of bridge opening..
on May 14th, 1920..
Location: Southeast corner and Northwest corner, Michigan Avenue bridge..
# For more.. click here..



The Chicago River..
The marker spells out the importance of Chicago River in the early development of the city..
Location: Southwest corner, Michigan Avenue bridge..
From 1673, commerce and civilization followed the natural waterway from the seaboard to the heart of the continent.
The statergic importance of the early American development of the junction of the Chicago River and the Lake Michigan led to the establishment here of Fort Dearborn and to the founding of the City of Chicago...
# For more.. click here



Markers along the Wacker Drive..
The granite squares are engraved with the names of individuals and businesses who have sponsored the planting of a tree. The trees are planted as part of The Chicago Gateway Green Committee's efforts to a greener Chicago Metropolitan Area..
# For more.. click here..



Site of Fort Dearborn...
Address: Intersection of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive
Fort Dearborn: Year built: 1803, destroyed: 1812 ...
Second fort erected on the same site: 1816, demolished 1856 ..
The site has been designated a Chicago Landmark on September 15, 1971 ..
# For more.. click here..



Bust of Pointe DuSable..
Sculptor: Erik Blome
Installed: 2009
Location: Pioneer Court..
To the north east end of the bridge is the bust of Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable...
DuSable is popularly known as "The Father of Chicago", was the first known settler in the area which is now Chicago, Illinois. Du Sable was recognized by the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago as the Founder of Chicago on October 26, 1968...
# For more.. click here..



Site of Pointe DuSable House..
The north-east of the Michigan Avenue bridge is the site of DuSable house, "Kinzie Mansion" [1784-1832], home of Pointe Du Saible, Le Mai, and John Kinzie. Chicago`s `First Civilian'. Here was born, in 1805, the city`s first white child, Ellen Marion Kinzie. The site has been declared a National Historic Landmark..
# For more.. click here..



Dont miss - the bridge tower top..
Looks like a Ram head..
Symbolic??
Any information is welcome..
I really am not aware if the Ram's head has any meaning..
Although symbolically, Ram's head is a symbol enery, power, vilatily..

For more on.. [click on the link]
# Defense, Regeneration, The Pioneers, and The Discoverers..
# Plaque in honor of Louis Jolliet & Pere Jacques Marquette.
# Plaque in honor of La Salle & Henry De Tonti..
# Celebrating the bridge opening....
# The importance of Chicago River in early Chicago development..
# Granite squares commemorating Chicago Gateway Green committee efforts..
# Site of Fort Dearborn...
# Bust of Pointe DuSable.. click here..
# Site of McKinzie Mansion...