Greening Chicago's Magnificent Mile

The city of Chicago is a city that cares about its appearance and providing spaces for residents and the public to escape towards. Ever since the Burnham Plan (if you would like to know more check out (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsR6dQUh_qs) Chicago has built numerous parks and green spaces to keep a clean image. Now the green movement is spreading to the Magnificent Mile in bits and pieces. I had the opportunity to capture some Green gadgets and inspiration that are slowly taking over the city. The first most noticeable pieces where the Illinois Institute of Art has on display several dress designs with green being the overall theme. The Dresses are funky and pretty out there, but like the saying goes, its the idea that counts. With names such as Recycled Rococo and Rain Catcher the dresses demonstrate how clothing can be made out of any sustainable or recyclable material. Another very interesting gadget I found was a hand dryer in the restrooms of Water Tower Place. The hand dryer named the Air Blade designed by Dyson is another interesting way to reduce our paper towel consumption. The Air Blade is revolutionary for its use of two jets that dry your palms and the top of your hands at the same time to decrease the time it takes for one to dry their hands. Not only does it look weird it feels weird too. I overheard a women saying how she kept playing with machine, which is why it took her so long to come out of the bathroom. My final discovery was a garbage can, but this was no ordinary garbage can. It was a solar powered trash compactor, which uses solar energy to run the compressor. All of these little ideas are great steps forward in the effort to green our planet. So the next time you happen to be on the Magnificent Mile be sure to check out all of these gadgets.

Olympics contribute to Chicago

The 2008 Beijing Olympics are just about to take place, but there has been a huge interest in which city will be hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics. The candidate cities consist of Madrid, Rio, Tokyo, and Chicago (my favorite). These cities over the last year have been flaunting their positive attributes demonstrating why they deserve to host the games. Chicago is a prime candidate due to its provided stadiums, strong infrastructure, great public transportation systems, Central location in the US, and of course its beauty and architecture.
The plan calls for four organized clusters housing different events. A new Olympic Stadium will be set up in Washington Park, that would hold the opening and closing ceremonies. The stadium is projected to house 80,000 viewers during the Olympics, and after the games the stadium will be down scaled to a 5,000 seat amphitheater. The Olympics Sports Complex is another proposal to host tennis, BMX, volleyball, and Track Cycling. Another great attribute about Chicago is its already existing venues. The proposal takes advantage of Solider Field, McCormick Place, UIC Pavilion, United Center, Allstate Arena, and finally Lake Michigan. To house all of the Olympians a plan is drawn out for an Olympic Village, which will be built right on the lake shore, and after the Olympics the Village will convert to mixed-income housing. Everything I have mentioned is being built to fulfill the requirements to host the Olympics, but there are also some other perks that come with being a bidding city. The greatest example is the under construction Spire. The Chicago Spire, designed by Santiago Calatrava, will become the third largest building in the world standing at 2,000 feet tall. The tower is proposed to be completed in 2012 (right before the Olympics) and will host 150 floors all designated to residential. The tower is meant to stand as an Icon for Chicago, and demonstrate Chicago's strength in building technology through its spiral structure. Even Buckingham fountain is getting a 25 million dollar make over, that is proposed to be completed by April 1st, when the Olympic board comes back to Chicago. Chicago is a beautiful city that has a world renowned reputation, and the 2016 Olympics will only demonstrate its Beauty, Organization, and Strength.