Burnham Pavilions Overview

London-based Zaha Hadid and Amsterdam-based Ben van Berkel of UNStudio have designed architectural exhibits to be installed in Millennium Park this summer to honor the forward-looking spirit of the Plan of Chicago. They emphasize the importance of boldly imagining a better future for all, as Daniel Burnham and Edward Bennett did in 1909 by making bold plans and big dreams in their Plan of Chicago. The Pavilions will open to the public on June 19, 2009 in conjunction with a Grant Park Music Festival concert.  These opening events  are sponsored by National City, now a part of PNC.  The pavilions will close on November 1, 2009.

The Zaha Hadid pavilion’s curvilinear formal geometries engage state-of-the-art fabric technologies; the UNStudio‘s floating roof offers surprising views of the Chicago skyline. Both are intended to echo the audacity of the Burnham and Bennett Plan, which proclaimed, “What we as a people decide to do in the public interest we can and surely will bring to pass.”

The UNStudio pavilion will be built of steel donated by Chicago-based ArcelorMittal, and subsequently de-constructed and recycled. The Zaha Hadid pavilion is a tent-like structure, and can be deconstructed and re-installed at another location following the Centennial. It is made of aluminum, donated by Marmon/Keystone Industries, a member of the Marmon Group of Companies, and a tensile fabric.

Exhibit panels adjacent to the pavilions will be designed to inspire visitors to engage with the Burnham Plan Centennial and opportunities to shape the future of Metropolitan Chicago.  A touch screen will allow visitors to start to make choices about our quality of life by interacting with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s (CMAP) regional GO TO 2040 plan.

For more see complete news release [Newsroom]