Touring The Architectural Giants Of Downtown Chicago

If you visit Chicago, you're likely to end up at "The Bean."

That's what most people call "Cloud Gate," a sculpture by Anish Kapoor that has become a favorite spot for tourists taking selfies. That’s because the Bean’s mirrored surface reflects back its admirers against a stately backdrop of the skyscrapers that line Millennium Park.

On a recent Monday morning at the Bean, the Chicago Tribune’s Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Blair Kamin (@BlairKamin) says the Bean builds on Chicago’s legacy of modern design.

"I see possibility, I see contemporary technology used to make art, I see the clouds drawn down into this jelly bean-like polished mirrored surface where you can almost touch them. I just see wonder, and I see a new emblem of Chicago,” Kamin says. “It’s perfect for Chicago because it’s placed right at the foot of the skyline and so it reflects the great architectural achievements of the city, but in a way that you’ve never seen them before.”