Synopses & Reviews
At its opening on July 16, 2004, Chicagoand#8217;s Millennium Park was hailed as one of the most important millennium projects in the world. and#8220;Politicians come and go; business leaders come and go,and#8221; proclaimed mayor Richard M. Daley, and#8220;but artists really define a city.and#8221; Part park, part outdoor art museum, part cultural center, and part performance space, Millennium Park is now an unprecedented combination of distinctive architecture, monumental sculpture, and innovative landscaping. Including structures and works by Frank Gehry, Anish Kapoor, Jaume Plensa, and Kathryn Gustafson, the park represents the collaborative efforts of hundreds to turn an unused railroad yard in the heart of the city into a world-class civic spaceand#8212;and, in the process, to create an entirely new kind of cultural philanthropy.
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Timothy Gilfoyle here offers a biography of this phenomenal undertaking, beginning before 1850 when the site of the park, the and#8220;cityand#8217;s front yard,and#8221; was part of Lake Michigan. Gilfoyle studied the history of downtown; spent years with the planners, artists, and public officials behind Millennium Park; documented it at every stage of its construction; and traced the skeins of financing through municipal government, global corporations, private foundations, and wealthy civic leaders. The result is a thoroughly readable and lavishly illustrated testament to the park, the city, and all those attempting to think and act on a monumental scale. And underlying Gilfoyleand#8217;s history is also a revealing study of the globalization of art, the use of culture as an engine of economic expansion, and the nature of political and philanthropic power.
Born out of civic idealism, raised in political controversy, and maturing into a
symbol of the new Chicago, Millennium Park is truly a twenty-first-century
landmark, and it now has the history it deserves.
Review
and#8220;[A] high-stakes game of push-and-pull forms the dramatic core of historian Timothy J. Gilfoyleand#8217;s absorbing and lavishly illustrated
Millennium Park. Gilfoyle frames the parkand#8217;s gestation as a titanic struggle between public and private interests.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;
Millennium Park is fascinatingand#8212;and gorgeous. Its 474 pages are adorned with color images. Theyand#8217;re worth the $45 sticker price alone. . . . [Gilfoyle] knows how to tell a good story, and he has one here. . . . His research and his interviews uncovered a series of lucky breaks and wily moves that made Millennium Park possible, and then filled it with spectacular works of art.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Gilfoyle captures all the soaring architectural drama, petty human squabbling, and commendable leadership behind the cityand#8217;s newest civic jewel.and#8221;
Review
"Gilfoyle has given us an intelligent and meticulously researched account of this triumphant new centerpiece of the city's downtown. The book is handsomely produced, well-written , full of gorgeous photographs and tells the absorbing story of the Millennium Park site."
Review
"Gardening with Perennials, by the British garden writer Noel Kingsbury, muscles its way in, dispensing 'lessons from Chicagoand#8217;s Lurie Garden.' It will be indispensable for Midwestern gardeners who deal with searing heat and bone-tattling coldand#8212;and not much in between.and#160;Yes, an Englishman in Chicago. Thatand#8217;s the twist that makes this book special: It took an out-of-towner to realize that the dazzling, gently rolling five-acre Lurie Garden in Millennium Park merited book-length attention. . . .and#160;brimming with ideas for every home garden."
Review
"Over the years perennial gardening has become a collection of yearly, new-fashioned plants overwhelmed by wood mulch and often replanted every few seasons as the plants decline and die. Plantsman and international garden designer Piet Oudolf created a perennial planting Lurie Garden located in Millennium Park in Chicago that lives engaged in its own well-being and abundant in moment to moment beauty through all four seasons. The planting isnand#8217;t theoretical but practice based, creating the possibilities for all future perennial plantings. Noeland#8217;s book welcomes you into the health and joy of contemporary perennial gardening."
Review
and#8220;The dynamic duo of two of my favorite plantsmen, Piet Oudolf and Noel Kingsbury, strikes again in this exceptional reference book about Lurie Garden! Beginning home gardeners, master gardeners, and professionals alike can gain insight into the design and care of beautiful yet tough perennials wonderfully suited for busy, environmentally conscious gardeners. Rooftop garden designers will also find it particularly helpful in their quest for successful urban greening.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Kingsbury elegantly explores the concepts informing the Lurie Garden and makes an exceptional case for transforming typical gardens into something far more interesting and sustainable.and#8221;
Synopsis
Since its opening on July 16, 2004, the Lurie Garden in Chicagoand#8217;s Millennium Park has attracted an enormous amount of attention. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people pass through it every day, often on a regular basis. This book enables and inspires them to do just that, while providing those who havenand#8217;t or wonand#8217;t ever visit the Lurie with a wonderful introduction to native gardening. It introduces readers to the art and science of perennial gardening, with a particular focus on native plants. Perennials offer more for the home gardener than any other group of plants. They are small enough to plant creatively in restricted spaces, and long-lived enough to develop continuity and improve the sustainability of the garden. This book introduces garden perennials, using the plants of the Lurie Garden as a guide. It is not aimed at being a comprehensive guide to perennials, but starts with the idea that the range of plants used in the Lurie Garden forms a good basis for home-owners new to growing perennials or indeed to the whole world of gardening. The range of perennials in the Lurie Garden is actually very wide, although with an emphasis on species that flourish in sun rather than shade. It also includes many regionally native species--more than half.
Synopsis
For gardeners, inspiration can come from the most unexpected places. Perennial enthusiasts around the world might be surprised to find their muse in the middle of a bustling city. Lurie Garden, a nearly three-acre botanic garden in the center of Chicagoand#8217;s lakefront in Millennium Park, is a veritable living lab of prairie perennials, with a rich array of plant life that both fascinates and educates as it grows, flowers, and dies back throughout the year. Thousands of visitors pass through each year, and many leave wondering how they might bring some of the magic of Lurie to their own home gardens.
Withand#160;Gardening with Perennialsand#160;horticulturalist and garden writer Noel Kingsbury brings a global perspective to the Lurie oasis through a wonderful introduction to the world of perennial gardening. He shows how perennials have much to offer home gardeners, from sustainabilityand#8212;perennials require less water than their annual counterpartsand#8212;to continuity, as perennialsand#8217; longevity makes them a dependable staple.
Kingsbury also explains why Lurie is a perfect case study for gardeners of all locales. The plants represented in this urban oasis were chosen specifically for reliability and longevity. The majority will thrive on a wide range of soils and across a wide climatic range. These plants also can thrive with minimal irrigation, and without fertilizers or chemical control of pests and diseases. Including a special emphasis on plants that flourish in sun, and featuring many species native to the Midwest region,and#160;Gardening with Perennialsand#160;will inspire gardeners around the world to try Chicago-style sustainable gardening.
About the Author
Timothy J. Gilfoyle is professorand#160;of history at Loyola University Chicago where he teaches American urban and social history.and#160; His research has focused on the development and evolution of 19th-century urban underworld subcultures and informal economies.and#160; He is the author of A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York; City of Eros: New York City, Prostitution, and the Commercialization of Sex, 1790-1920; The Urban Underworld in Late Nineteenth-Century New York: The Autobiography of George Appo; and co-author of The Flash Press: Sporting Men's Weeklies in the 1840s.and#160; Gilfoyleand#8217;s interest in urban planning and public space is reflected inand#160;Millennium Park: Creating a Chicago Landmark.and#160;
Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Appendixes
Preface
Part I - History
1. Before Grant Park
2. Creating Grant Park
3. The Grant Park Problem
Part II - Politics
4. Skidmore, Owings and Merrilland#8217;s Master Plan
5. Shooting for the Moon
6. Art in the Park
7. The Culture Broker
8. A Theater in the Park
9. The Modern Medicis
10. Conflict and Controversy
11. Defining Art
Part III - Culture
12. Constructing Millennium Park
13. Vermeer in Chicago: The Jay Pritzker Pavilion and BP Bridge
14. The Joan W. and Irving B. Harris Theater for Music and Dance
15. Cloud Gate
16. The Crown Fountain
17. The Lurie Garden
18. The Subtle Amenities of Millennium Park
Conclusion: The Multiple Meanings of Millenniumo-bidi-font-family: 'Courier New'" Parkand#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Acknowledgments
Appendixes
Frequently Used Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Illustration Credits
Index