The Lurie Garden is located within Millennium Park in Chicago, IL.

https://goo.gl/maps/zWQErvWnQBs

This place is hidden behind a wall of decorative greenery and presents a sense of wild in a sprawling urban landscape. It boasts natural hues, tall grasses, and a comfortable winter scene for growth in the city. The wooden pathways that carve throughout serve as a connection to the natural world; an extension of the cityscape into a manmade grassland. This place provides sanction from the flow of outsiders in a time of exponential influx. There are few times in which one can find natural peace within this city, but tall grasses and quiet pathways create a sanctuary for someone whose sense of self comes almost directly from their experiences with the natural world. Urban life, one surrounded by extensive skyscrapers that do not sway in a breeze, can often feel stagnant and disconnected. The movement of earth, of grasses and flowers, creates an organic feeling of connection and furthers ones’ understanding of existence. The combination of human construction and natural fabrications in this space are an extension of self, and opportunity to see the coexistence of man and nature firsthand—a coexistence that has been long sought in my own life. This place exists to answer the question- how does one feel as though they belong in a world so structured and large?

The ecology of this garden is surprisingly similar to that of the Burlington landscape. The tall grasses, namely red switch grass, are the foundation of both areas. The presence of birds felt in the Burlington place has been replaced by that of humans—although the chatter of both species fills the air in a similar way. The songs of vehicles, of tourists, of small children can be heard bellowing over the shrubbery walls, creating an air of isolation within the garden itself. This feeling is felt in Burlington as well, as one travels along the main road only to break off into the natural area—but the serenity is felt intensely in this garden, located in the center of downtown Chicago. The fabricated nature of this place is intense, every aspect feels intentional—the landscaping, the placement of it all. The changes of such a place are unnatural, grasses are planted, the environment is fabricated to look as desired. Somehow, despite all this fabrication, it remains a natural place (likely due to the contrast between its flow and the city’s stagnant, structural edges).