Lily Pool, Lincoln Park, Chicago

Lincoln Park is north of downtown Chicago along the lake shore. On the sunny summer day when I visited, the area was very active and full of families, visitors, bikers, drivers, and sunbathers. My destination was the Lily Pool, a quiet retreat from all the activity, which was designed in the 1930s by Alfred Caldwell.

This design shares a sensibility with places created by Caldwell's mentor, Jens Jensen, namely the evocation of the larger midwestern/Great Lakes landscape-- its horizontality, geology, and the movement of water. Large stacked stones shaped the paths, edges of paths, steps and places to sit, and also a waterfall-- a limited palette of materials and forms shape many kinds of spaces.

When I was there, a man was aggressively practicing T'ai Chi (you can spot him in this photo below)! This may sound like a contradiction, but he stood in a prominent spot overlooking the pool and dominated the space. I suppose he was having a calming experience, although he seemed to wield it over everyone else!