Cloud Gate The Bean: Steel Sculpture Millennium Park Chicago
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shalin_99
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Cloud Gate The Bean: Steel Sculpture Millennium Park Chicago
Cloud Gate is a public sculpture by British artist Anish Kapoor in Millennium Park within the Loop community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the centerpiece of the AT&T Plaza, and is located above the Park Grill and adjacent to the Chase Promenade. The sculpture was constructed from 2004-2006, with a temporary unveiling in the summer of 2004. Nicknamed "The Bean" because of its legume-like shape, Cloud Gate's exterior consists of 168 highly polished stainless steel plates. It is 33 feet by 66 feet by 42 feet (10 m × 20 m × 13 m) tall, and weighs 110 short tons (99.8 MT/98.2 LT). It was inspired by liquid mercury. The sculpture's highly polished exterior reflects and transforms the city's skyline. Visitors are invited to walk around and under Cloud Gate's 12-foot (3.7 m)-high arch, which contains a concave chamber called the "omphalos" that multiplies and warps image reflections.
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chandoo
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AT&T Plaza is home to Cloud Gate, a three-story, 110-ton steel sculpture that has been dubbed by residents as "The Bean". The sculpture is the work of world-renowned artist Anish Kapoor and is the first of his public art in the United States. The piece was privately funded and the total cost was $23 million — up from the original estimate of $6 million.
Cloud Gate is a highly-polished reflective steel sculpture that is meant to resemble a drop of mercury hovering at the point of landing on a plaza of the park. When Millennium Park opened in 2004, the grid of welds around each metal panel was still visible. But in early 2005 workers polished out the seams. The curved, mirror-like surface of the sculpture provides striking reflections of visitors, the city skyline, particularly the historic Michigan Avenue "Streetwall," and the sky; since its installation, it has probably become the most popular sculpture in the city.
Cloud Gate is a highly-polished reflective steel sculpture that is meant to resemble a drop of mercury hovering at the point of landing on a plaza of the park. When Millennium Park opened in 2004, the grid of welds around each metal panel was still visible. But in early 2005 workers polished out the seams. The curved, mirror-like surface of the sculpture provides striking reflections of visitors, the city skyline, particularly the historic Michigan Avenue "Streetwall," and the sky; since its installation, it has probably become the most popular sculpture in the city.