© Patrick Pyszka
- Architects: Gehry Partners
- Location: Millennium Park, 201 E Randolph St, Chicago, IL 60602, United States
- Project Architect: Manoucher Eslami
- Project Team: Reza Bagherzadeh, Chris Banks, Saffet Bekiroglu, Tom Besai, James Jackson, Leigh Jerrard, Kurt Komraus, Jason Luk, David May, Chris Mazzier, Frank Medrano, Sy Melgazo, Napolean Merana, Chris Mercier, Julianna Morais, Diego Petrate, Lynn Pilon, Birgit Schneider, Tensho Takemori, Karen Tom, Scott Uriu, Adam Wheeler
- Design Partner: Frank O. Gehry
- Project Designer: Craig Webb
- Project Year: 2004
- Photographs: Patrick Pyszka
- Project Management: : U.S. Equities
- Structural Engineer: : Skidmore Owings & Merrill
- Mechanical & Electrical Engineer: McDonough Associates
- Theatre Consultant & Lighting Designers: Schuler & Shook
- Acoustical Consultant & Audio Systems Design: The Talaske Group
- Client: Millennium Park
© Patrick Pyszka
Text description provided by the architects. Located in Grant Park between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Drive along the edge of Lake Michigan, the Jay Pritzker Pavilion is an open-air venue featuring performances by the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra, as well as jazz, blues, and other world music performances.
© Patrick Pyszka
Location
Courtesy of Gehry Partners
The Pavilion is a highly sculptural design element clad in stainless steel panels. The stage area is clad in Douglas Fir. The Pavilion is visible from surrounding city streets and is intended to act as a focal point for Millennium Park. The Pavilion features a series of portable risers that will accommodate an orchestra of up to 120 musicians, and a choral terrace with space for a choir of up to 150 members. Back stage areas are shared with the adjacent Music and Dance Theater. Large glass doors allow the Pavilion to be used during winter months for public functions including banquets, receptions, and lectures. A decorative lighting system enhances the Pavilion with colored light washes and projections during evening performances.
Courtesy of Gehry Partners
Plan
© Patrick Pyszka
Seating for the audience is provided in two areas. The main seating area accommodates up to 4,000 people in fixed seats and is located immediately adjacent to the Pavilion. Beyond the main seating area, a lawn area can seat up to an additional 7,000 people in a more informal environment.
© Patrick Pyszka
Performance sound is reinforced and enhanced by speaker clusters located in front of the Pavilion. In addition, a distributed reinforcement and enhancement sound system is suspended from a trellis that spans the entire 600 foot length and 300 foot width of the lawn area. This sound system gives the audience a fuller sense of the onstage sound and controls the sound level in the surrounding neighborhood. The trellis, in the shape of a flattened dome, is constructed of curved steel pipes typically spaced 65 feet apart. The trellis is supported by cylindrical concrete pylons clad in stainless steel panels.
Courtesy of Gehry Partners
Structure
The Pavilion is located atop a three level underground parking structure. A busway and metro rail tracks which run adjacent to Grant Park pass beneath the Pavilion at the lowest level of the parking structure.
Courtesy of Gehry Partners
A 960 foot pedestrian bridge spanning Columbus Drive links the Pavilion to the eastern portion of Grant Park and the edge of Lake Michigan. The bridge, made of Pau Lupe wood and stainless steel, acts as an acoustic buffer from the traffic noise below.
© Patrick Pyszka