Millennium Park, Chicago (must see)

In 2004, when Anish Kapoor's colossal, gleaming Cloud Gate sculpture, the lively fountains, the captivating Crown Fountain, and a Disney-esque music pavilion all came together in this park, they quickly won the affection of both Chicagoans and tourists. This public space, which cost $250 million more than planned and opened four years later than scheduled, stands out as Chicago's most dazzling, showcasing contemporary architecture and design. Paul Goldberger, the architecture critic for The New York Times, hailed it as "one of the great new models for a kind of urban park." It has been embraced by locals and visitors alike and is widely considered the most impressive public project in Chicago since the 1893 World's Fair.

The park's origins trace back to a moment when Mayor Richard M. Daley conceived of it while sitting in his dentist's chair across the street, gazing at the sea of parking lots and railyards that occupied the site until the late 1990s. The initial design, created by the globally renowned Skidmore, Owings and Merrill firm based in Chicago, adhered to the traditional style of Grant Park, featuring formal fountains and gardens. However, private donors who had pledged to supplement public funding for the park's construction rejected this design as too conservative. Cindy Pritzker, a prominent Chicago philanthropist and the spouse of the late Jay Pritzker, the founder of the Hyatt hotel chain and the esteemed Pritzker Prize in architecture, eventually persuaded Frank Gehry (a previous Pritzker Prize laureate) to design the park's central pavilion, along with a bridge leading to the lake across Columbus Avenue. Gehry's involvement attracted other exceptional talents to the project, resulting in an impressively diverse yet cohesive masterpiece.

The star attraction undoubtedly lies in Gehry's remarkable Jay Pritzker Pavilion, featuring striking ribbons of stainless steel soaring 40 feet into the sky, resembling petals enveloping the music stage. Other notable elements include the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, offering an indoor option for performing arts enthusiasts, the McCormick Tribune Ice Rink, and the Lurie Garden, a year-round delight.