Erica Beimesche

Walking through Millennium Park’s Lurie Garden in Chicago, one

would never expect to be directly above a massive underground parking

garage. However, thanks to landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson,

countless tourists and locals alike traverse and appreciate the landscape

and are none the wiser. The garden is not just a disguise for the garage; it

is a testament to Chicago’s history and an escape from the concrete jungle

of the city.

Loosely rectangular-shaped, Lurie Garden is less than two blocks

away from the waters of Lake Michigan (1). It lies between the dense,

orthogonal buildings of the city and the carefully constructed green spaces

that line the shore (2). Even so, it is very near a busy intersection, still

bordered on all sides by streets. In this way, the garden links the natural

world of Chicago’s undeveloped past with its metropolitan present.

Nestled in the corner of the famous Millennium Park, it is mainly

composed of two juxtaposed “plates” bisected by a boardwalk (3). The

Dark Plate is a densely planted section with a wide path running through

it, called the Cloud Walk. Trees are planted around and even in the

middle of the walkway, giving the visitor a sense of primordial mystery,

reminiscent of a marshy, pre-human Chicago shoreline (4). The Light

Plate consists of perennial plantings, and is a low plain that one can easily

see across. There are no trees, and the bright, optimistic plate is meant to

evoke a feeling of walking on air. Casual trails are interwoven throughout

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the Light Plate, allowing visitors to experience the garden in more depth.

Both plates are tilted, initiating a distorted sensation that helps the garden

as a whole achieve transcendence. They are also slightly convex, as if

punched upward by the indomitable verticality which characterizes the

metropolis. This additive nature of Lurie Garden, including the tall hedge

and two plates, is countered by the subtraction of the water feature. The

sunken rill, or stream, emphasizes how the plates and the city have been

raised above the level of the lake (5).

Bordering Lurie Garden towers the Shoulder Hedge, taken from

Chicago’s nickname as the “City of the Big Shoulders.” While serving as

a frame for the landscape, it also protects the flora from high winds and

heavy pedestrian traffic. This green perimeter consists of evergreen

shrubs and trees which are hemmed in by a metal armature. The armature

gives the evergreens a definite rectangular shape, while serving as a

trimming guide and bird perch. The vertical members of the framework

lean inward, allowing the inner vegetation more light and conferring a

majestic superiority upon the Shoulder Hedge as a whole, such as the

entasis of ancient columns (6). In the context of the city, the Shoulder

Hedge’s loose “L” shape mimics that of the encompassing city blocks to

the northwest (7). From an interior perspective, the hedge also creates the

illusion of supporting the buildings beyond, especially Frank Gehry’s band

shell “headdress” to the north (8). In all, the Shoulder Hedge is a vital

boundary that separates Lurie Garden from the exterior world; it creates a

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hierarchy of movement between Millennium Park and the garden’s plates,

while also defining circulation patterns within and without.

The points of entry into Lurie Garden arise from two major

sources: the road to the south and the park to the west and north (9).

Heavy traffic from the direction of the band shell’s green and the Cloud

Gate sculpture, nicknamed the Bean, funnel into the garden from the north

(10). Pedestrians must choose between entering via the boardwalk, the

more central option, or the Cloud Walk, the path that crosses the Dark

Plate to the east. The other routes from this direction consist of the stairs

through the western Shoulder Hedge, which connect the inner garden with

the wide outer walkway to the west. From Monroe Street to the south,

visitors can gain access to Lurie Garden through two stairways and a

ramp. The ramp is located on the southwestern corner of the garden, with

one wide stair on its immediate right. The other stair is found on the

southeastern corner; one main stair leads upward to the garden, while two

subordinate stairs lead symmetrically downward to the garage below.

Within Lurie Garden, circulation is concentrated heavily upon the

central boardwalk, or the Seam, which runs north-south between plates

(11). To the west, the wide, well-traveled aisle serves as a means to

circumvent the garden, as it is outside the Shoulder Hedge. Glimpses

through the hedge where it is split by stairs give pedestrians just a hint of

the garden’s interior. Finally, the lightly traveled Cloud Walk to the east

divides the Dark Plate and gives visitors access to the far east section.

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This section, while still part of the Dark Plate, is planted as a more

traditional park would be. There are three room-like sanctuaries stemming

from the Cloud Walk, each concealed and private, which tend to be

popular picnic sites. Thus, as the visitor travels progressively east, the

spaces become increasingly private (12).

The Seam, the most-travelled area of Lurie Garden, is composed of

the boardwalk and rill. It bisects the garden diagonally, creating the

division between the Light and Dark Plates and acting as the main axis of

the landscape. This effectively makes the garden entirely asymmetrical

and defines the space on either side, while producing the effect that the

garden and boardwalk have been rotated about the center. The path is a

boardwalk to remind visitors of their historical use in a city constructed

on boggy ground. The Seam also runs parallel to a breakwater that kept

the lake from railroad tracks near the shore. From below this deck issues a

very gently flowing rill, reminiscent of the old lakefront. Pedestrians can

sit and rest along the lowered portion of the boardwalk, and even dangle

their feet in the cool water (13). Benches are nearly nonexistent in Lurie

Garden, as seating was reinvented so that visitors can perch wherever they

see fit; people often rest along the rill or settle along the stone borders that

skirt the plates.

Spanning the rill in three places are small bridges that connect the

Light and Dark Plates and allow circulation between them. Two of these

bridges lead to stairs which ascend into the Dark Plate, creating a

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hierarchy of space due to height (14). As one steps across the Seam from

the open, welcoming world of the Light Plate into the shady, enigmatic

world of the Dark Plate, a tonal shift is created.

The highest level, the Dark Plate, is walled off from the water, the

lowest point of the garden. The water can be reached from the lower

platform of the boardwalk, which is given definition by a slightly raised

portion of the path. Continuing to move west, the boardwalk itself meets

the Light Plate, which is elevated somewhat above the path, but not as

greatly as the Dark Plate (15). The source of the water originates at the

north entrance of the garden, at the top of the boardwalk.

As it runs alongside it, the water encounters roughly five shallow

cascades (16). This lends the water a playful, energized feeling, rather

than the slow, boring mood of still water. The flow terminates in a pool

which wraps around the south end of the boardwalk, prohibiting further

circulation in that direction. The end of this pool can clearly be seen from

the sidewalk on the north edge of Monroe Street (17). As visitors circulate

down the length of the boardwalk and come to its end, they come face to

face with the façade of the Modern Wing of the Art Institute of Chicago

(18). This placement was not accidental, as it emphasizes the importance

of the building by being in the direct line of sight from the Seam.

Chicago’s Lurie Garden is a demonstration of man’s ability to

shape the environment, conceal synthetic structures, and enhance the city-

goers’ way of life. From an unsightly parking garage, Kathryn Gustafson

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molded and gave birth to a public space in which visitors can relax and

enjoy time away from metropolitan chaos. The garden serves as a

historical microcosm of the city; it stands as a tribute to the past and

inspires optimism for the future.

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Works Cited

“About the Lurie Garden.” Lurie Garden. 16 February 2013. Millennium Park Chicago. Web.

<http://luriegarden.org/about-lurie-garden>.

“General Design Award of Excellence.” ASLA 2008 Professional Awards. 2008. American

Society of Landscape Architects. 16 February 2013. Web.

<http://www.asla.org/awards/2008/08winners/441.html>.

Graham, Wade. “Landscapes Born Of Clay—Kathryn Gustafson: The Organic Formalist.”

Garden Design 155 (2008): 98-100. Art Full Text (H.W. Wilson). 16 Feb. 2013. Web.

<http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=73237333-1717-439e-9174-

f1ea39f6df60%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=26&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ

%3d%3d#db=aft&AN=505351935>.

“Lurie Garden.” Gustafson Guthrie Nichol. 16 February 2013. Web.

<http://www.ggnltd.com/projects_detail.php?id=22#>.

Margolis, Liat and Alexander Robinson. Living Systems: Innovative Materials and

Technologies for Landscape Architecture. Basel: Birkhäuser, 2007. Print.

Richardson, Tim. Great Gardens of America. London: Frances Lincoln Limited, 2009. Print.

Wade, Megan. “Lurie Garden Maps.” Behance.net. 16 February 2013. Web.

<http://www.behance.net/gallery/Lurie-Garden-Maps/2596435>.