Opened in 2004, this bandshell is the centerpiece of Millennium Park, designed by Frank Gehry and named for Jay Pritzker, whose family owns Hyatt Hotels. It is home to the Grant Park Music Festival, one of the last free outdoor classical music series in the country.
Gehry's headdress of brushed stainless steel ribbons bursts up and out around a 120-foot stage opening. Over the Great Lawn stretches a trellis of crisscrossing steel pipes that carries the sound system, built to give an open-air crowd the sound of an indoor concert hall. With fixed seats and the lawn together, the pavilion holds about 11,000 people.
Because Grant Park has long-standing height limits on buildings, the city classifies the bandshell as a work of art rather than a building. Rehearsals are open to the public.
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