Cloud Gate, aka “The Bean”, is one of Chicago’s most popular sights. The monumental work of art anchors the city’s downtown park, reflecting the city’s famous skyline and the surrounding green space. Here’s everything you need to know about The Bean, including where it came from and where to see it .
Where is the bean in chicago?
The Bean is located in Millennium Park , the lakefront park in Chicago’s downtown Loop. It sits above the Mc. Cormick Tribune Plaza, directly behind the Park Grill Restaurant at 11 N. If you’re walking on Michigan Avenue between Randolph and Monroe, you really can’t miss it.
Formally known as Cloud Gate, Chicago’s Bean is a mercury-inspired structural wonder of engineering , resulting from the artistic vision of Anish Kapoor in collaboration with a design and construction firm.
To most people, this stainless steel figure is a work of art – but to tourists , it’s the best opportunity for a selfie. The Cloud Gate sculpture also known as ‘the Bean,’ is one of the top things to see in Chicago.
Why is Chicago’s Millennium Park called the bean?
It’s perhaps better known by its nickname, the bean, due of course to its bean-like shape . It’s one of Chicago’s most famous landmarks these days. Visitors crowd around the sculpture, in large part due to its shiny, reflective surface.
More affectionately known as “the Bean,” this massive public sculpture has garnered widespread acclaim ever since its unveiling in 2006. An essential stop on anyone’s Chicago photo tour, Cloud Gate is the prime attraction in Millennium Park.
The sculpture and AT&T Plaza are located on top of Park Grill , between the Chase Promenade and Mc. Cormick Tribune Plaza & Ice Rink. Constructed between 2004 and 2006, the sculpture is nicknamed The Bean because of its shape, a name Kapoor initially disliked, but later grew fond of.
What is the history of the bean?
In less than a decade, Cloud Gate, known by most simply as “the Bean,” has vaulted into one of Chicago’s top attractions. The final product, a gleaming steel mirror that bends the Chicago sky and skyline around its surface, had a long path to fruition, from selection to development. This is the inside story on Chicago Bean history.