each year my profession has a huge World's Trade Fair called NeoCon. it is always held in chicago at the mostrous merchandise mart {this building is so big that it has it's own zip code!} that is located on the river. this year it was last week june 13th - 15th. here is a brief description of what exactly NeoCon is....
"At NeoCon World’s Trade Fair, discover thousands of innovative products and resources for corporate, hospitality, healthcare, retail, government, institutional and residential interiors from more than 700 showrooms and exhibitors. NeoCon is where the design world comes together – three days of pure energy, bursting with new thinking, new resources, and new products. For 42 years the Merchandise Mart has been home to North America’s largest design exposition and conference for commercial interiors, providing nearly 40,000 architecture and design professionals with more than 150 CEU-accredited seminars and association forums, top-notch keynote speakers, cutting-edge products, innovative exhibits, building and design resources and materials."
this year myself, my co-worker michele and my friend sarah all attended, and boy did we have fun! while in chicago we walk and walk and walk all around downtown and then all around the merchandise mart which is the first photo you will see.
this year i manhandled 3 different cameras...my canon xsi, my canon point and shoot and my trusty iphone. the nice camera (canon xsi) was used while walking around downtown chicago and the point and shoot was put to work a few times. the trust iphone however was perfect for using in the showrooms and stuff. now, granted the picture quality isn't fabulous, but it was super easy to shoot away while being "somewhat" inconspicuous. so, fair warning, this is a long post with lots of pictures and design ramblings!
this begins the "nice" camera photos...
strolling along the river
"Cloud Gate is British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city's famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a "gate" to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.
Inspired by liquid mercury, the sculpture is among the largest of its kind in the world, measuring 66-feet long by 33-feet high."
sarah & me
michele & me
reflection from the bean - we enjoyed taking pics in the bean!
when you walk under the bean and look up you get a kaleidescope effect!
"Designed by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa and inspired by the people of Chicago, The Crown Fountain is a major addition to the city's world-renowned public art collection.
The fountain consists of two 50-foot glass block towers at each end of a shallow reflecting pool. The towers project video images from a broad social spectrum of Chicago citizens, a reference to the traditional use of gargoyles in fountains, where faces of mythological beings were sculpted with open mouths to allow water, a symbol of life, to flow out. Plensa adapted this practice by having faces of Chicago citizens projected on LED screens and having water flow through a water outlet in the screen to give the illusion of water spouting from their mouths. The collection of faces, Plensa's tribute to Chicagoans, was taken from a cross-section of 1,000 residents. "
Navy Pier Ferris Wheel!
we couldn't pass up the 4-story tall crate & barell!
beautiful chicago
view from the ferris wheel
view from the ferris wheel
...the point and shoot camera...
sunday night versteel, a furniture company, hosted a party at hotel 71 in the penthouse. as you can see we had AWESOME views of the river!
sarah and i on the river boat tour with trendway furniture company
trendway's showroom
at zed 451 for the interface carpet party
***trusty iphone photos***
{numbers start at top and go left to right}
view from hotel 71...awesom!
1. public transportation! love it! 2. i am the worst at taking self portrait pics...this was try #15 3. appetizers at hotel 71 party 4. view from the top! 5. beautiful architecture in this city 6.
lou malnatis for fabulous chicago deep dish pizza! 7. kimball furniture showroom
1. maharam textiles showrrom 2. love the black and white chairs! 3. haworth furntiure showroom, love the colors and designs! 4. gunlocke furniture showroom, love the color wall, i think this in a tile would be awesome
1.
zed 451 2. they had appetizers set out everywhere...love the candle light fixtures
3. we had a lot of fun with these girls on the dance floor! they are from detroit and were super fun
4.
zed 451 very neat design and atmosphere
1. haworth furniture showroom had a pool! not really a pool, it wasn't deep, but it was gorgeous. the bottom of it was glass mosaic tiles 2. interface carpet look at those designs! 3. interface carpet, bright colors in a fun design...i'm thinking perfect for a children's space 4. haworth furniture showroom, i loved the carpet design, which was from interface. love how it is very random 5. mohawk carpet, look at that design! you know the installers hated doing that...think i might have to try it 6. look at the ceiling...dont' remember which showroom, but the ceiling was amazing
1. bentley prince street carpet party at the
house of blues 2. dinner at
rosebud on rush {the best italian food i have ever had and the atmosphere is to die for) 3. me & sarah either right before or after i spilled my drink all over myself...good times! 4.
house of blues 5. me & michele
anthropologie on rush. i love it. i'm contemplating how i could build a house in this fashion. it would have to save money...exposed ceilings and such...i just love it.
so that was the LONGEST post ever, but hey, i had a lot to share! if you ever get the chance, go visit chicago. it is a fabulous city and i fall more in love with it each year. sometime i want to go when i can venture outside of the central downtown area...i know there is so much more. if you are planning on visiting, the
inn of chicago is a fabulous hotel located right off michigan ave. {the magnificent mile}& ohio {in between gap & guess}. i have stayed here multiple times and it is always clean, and the staff is always welcoming and nice. and you can't beat the price for the location.
aight...i'm done!
