LURIE GARDEN, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS (2004)
Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd., Piet Oudolf
and Robert Israel
Built atop an underground parking structure and former
rail line in Chicago, the Lurie Garden is the focal point
of Millennium Park, the open space that connects the
city’s downtown to Lake Michigan. Gustafson tapped
into Chicago’s ecological history, using native plants and
local stones to reference the Midwestern prairie in a
grouping of geometric gardens. A boardwalk runs beside
a stylized stream where pedestrians can sit with their
feet in the water—a new promenade for the tourists
and businesspeople, who crowd into the park during the
humid summer months.