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A Sigh of Relief

I love art and I enjoy the sometimes ridiculous object-buildings which have become the norm for art museums in recent years.  That said, I was relieved and pleased to read that the Fishers have decided to abandon plans to locate their museum at the Presidio.  Although their statement says that they might consider other Presidio locations, I am hoping they've learned their lesson and will not try to blight the Main Post once again.   

There is something obnoxious and outrageous to me about the way in which the Fisher's insinuated themselves and their view of what a public place should be without regard to what park users, preservationists or virtually anyone else want (save, of course, Don's fellow Trustee's).  No doubt, trade offs will be made in order to add amenities to and preserve historic character of the Presidio.  Will the Presidio reorganize to be a more private agency than the Trust?  The Presidio will change, but I don't like the idea of private individuals dictating the use of this resource in this manner.  This is some sort of alternative universe version of urban renewal where rich and obnoxious people rule... oh wait, that might have been our version of urban renewal... 

Apparently Don Fisher demanded more space than the current SFMOMA for the collection, so negotiations to donate his collection to MOMA broke down.  There is an interesting and odd tension here.  A person with a noted art collection wants to share it with the public, even offering to build the museum.  At the same time, this person is unwilling to work with people who want to help the art be exhibited and enjoyed by the public.  It would be nice to see the Fisher's use the public relations issues and community tension the resulted from the Presidio plan as an opportunity to recreate the concept of the museum.  Why not engage in a public process of planning, siting and programming the space?  The building has the opportunity to serve the community in a new and fully integrated way which the Fisher's do not recognize.  And, I don't mean a community meeting room located next to the security desk that is rented out at a discounted rate to non-profits.  Why not challenge the conventional museum experience?  There is a chance to reconfigure the function of this museum and integrate it in the fabric of the city in a completely new way.  Why not work with the residents of San Francisco to make this museum a showcase for art and community?  If the Fisher's want to give the public a gift of art, why not work with that public? 

And, one final question: why can't the Presidio keep the bowling alley?

Links for background information.

Victory!

After my weeks-long campaign to arrest the destruction Rittenhouse Square's beauty, I am pleased to report that the ugly trash cans were relocated, obstructing the entrance to the park. 
Now, if only that shed would be (re)moved. 

PA to CA

Philadelphia City Hall.
Penn's hand, as though he was waving goodbye.  (I highly recommend going to the top of City Hall.  I think it was 5 bucks, but worth it.  You can see the whole city from up there!)
Okay, this next one need explanation.  We got a late start and spent the first night in New Stanton, PA.  The Days Inn offered breakfast.  The photo shows to chaffing dishes of frozen items.  The adjacent sign says that "to protect our environment and conserve our natural resources" people have to heat their own breakfast items.  The sign also mentions wanting to reduce of food waste.  These are reasonable goals, but the ice crystals on the sausage and eggs are more likely to reduce food waste than the sign.  Somehow, I think those have been sitting around for a few months with no takers.  I guess Days Inn reduced their food expense, too.  Isn't there a health problems associated with letting frozen food sit out and then refreezing it? 
When we were in St. Louis, we received a quilt that the cat immediately enjoyed.

Next stop, Kansas City.  Country Club Plaza will get its own post, but here is a adaptively reused theatre ;)

A wind farm surprised us in the middle of Kansas.  I really want to get close to the turbines someday. 

In Denver, we visited Rockmount Ranch Wear.  A worthwhile stop.  Not only did Rockmont innovate with the first snap buttons, but they make cute children versions of they vintage style shirts.  I must mention Vesta, an incredible dinner stop.  I will write a separate post about it later, but it was hands downt hebest food we had on our trip.  (Yes, the whole dipping concept at Vesta sounds gimicky, but the food eas incredible and the service phenomial.)

Next, we hit Arches National Park.  The weather was dicey and our time short, but we did see an arch and the famous Three Gossips. 

After driving for what felt like several years on the rural one lane roads of Utah, we made it to Salt Lake City.  We visited the captiol, which was seemingly unguarded and open to the public on Sunday, and the Morman Temple.  Around the capitol, there were a number of beehive motifs.  This has to due with a comment Brigham Young made about beehives being self sufficent. 

Here is the temple reflected in the fountain in front of it.  There were some hilarious foreign tourists there taking photos.  Oh dear.

We made a final stop in Utah to enjoy the salt flats.  Yes, it tastes salty, but I am not going to tell you how I know that.  In the middle of it, the middle of nowhere, there was an odd tree statue.

Nothing exciting happened in NV, but we did make it to Tahoe.  Beautiful.  The perfect way to enter California.

 

Did Rittenhouse Square Get Uglier?

Recently I commented on how the trash cans at Rittenhouse ruined the design of a corner entrance.  Well, the new shed is now visible and it makes me really wonder will be next.  Okay, maybe it isn't as bad as the trash cans, but it is very large and flanking it on both sides with the fencing to disguise equipment just dwarfs the shed and makes it stand out even more.  What do you think?

Hmmm... Looking at the proportion of the shed to the fenced areas makes me think of stringing together animal cracker boxes into a little train when I was a kid.

Effingham, Illinois

Effingham is in the middle of nowhere.  At least from the perspective of driving between Philadelphia and St. Louis.  Those are cities with larger stars on the map.  Effingham gets a dot.  That said, marketing can make a big difference.  Effingham get this.

Very cleverly, Effingham used the pattern made by the intersecting highways as its city logo.  I like that they are embracing what they are.

Just down the hill from the sign, there is a 60 foot high cross.  Effingham really is at the crossroads of opportunity. 

Center City District Makes Another Mistake

Before I left Philly, I needed to run an errand. Much to my dismay, when I arrived at the southwest corner of Rittenhouse Square, I saw these devastatingly ugly garbage cans. While this isn't the first time that Center City District (CCD) has made a terrible design decision, shame on them! Rittenhouse Square is an important public space, with a distinctive design. I don't know why the entrance was shown such little regard. There are other garbage cans inside Rittenhouse, so why ruin the elegant entrance with these? Or, why not replace the cans inside the park. Hideous. To me the garbage cans are a blight. All over town. Sure, we need cans that prevent bag blow outs, but these seem like a waste of money in a cash strapped city (much like the late-to-the-game and completely ineffective Office of Sustainability.) Bottomline, bad placement and ostentatious waste of money in the name of the environment.

Little Boxes

I finally started to watch Weeds.  I have gotten through the first two seasons and started on the third.  I really like it.  I wish there was more critique of cookie cutter life in the third season... I am not far into it, but I don't like all this U-Turn stuff. 

At any rate, the theme song is fantastic.  I love the utter dismay of the cookie cutter lifestyle of suburbia.  At the Rittenhouse Square Fine Art show, I fell in love with these pastels.  The boxy houses with glowing blue swimming pools came to mind when I heard the song.  Lol, I wonder if this artist would consider adding hideous plastic columns, vinyl siding, fake brick/stone facades and those stupid mini round windows to his critique.  Disposable, unsustainable, crap construction.  Funny thing is that the houses that inspired the song are actually pretty cool looking.

Public Art Shenanigans II

All sorts of public art fun in Rittenhouse Square these days.  An April Fools rain shower did not keep someone from enjoying the warmer spring weather by sharing some flowers.

Public Art Shenanigans

Walking through Rittenhouse Square today, I noticed a new public art display.  I recently attended a lecture on the History of Rittenhouse, which didn't include this work.  The lecture was not very informative, but it did discuss the presence of cotton mills in the mid-1800s on Lombard Street around 20th or maybe it was 22nd.  I can't imagine this area of Philadelphia filled with cotton mills, brick factories and puddles.

Marrakech

The Marrakech train station is only a couple of years old.  It looks as new and fancy as one would expect from Marrakech, tourist capital of Morocco. 

The inside of the station was shockingly beautiful.  I stopped in my tracks and admired the scene.  Looking at some of the deferred maintenance issues in Casablanca, I wondered where Morocco was funneling its money.  My questions were answered.

We stayed at a very nice riad called Dar Anika.  With two of my friends, I stayed in the fancy domed room suite.  I would highly recommend this place.  It is located within a quick walk of the Medina and owners were very friendly and helpful.  Although the riad was recently built, the interior design caters to Orientalist fantasies (as do many of Marrakech's riads and hotels). 

 
We visited the ruins of the El Badi Palace that date to the early 1500s.  There were a number of sunken gardens in the central grounds.  The tops of the orange trees of these gardens came to about waist level, which meant that the fragrant blossoms on the tops of the trees were just under our noses.  It was intoxicating.

 
The magical orange trees in the foreground in front of El Badi's most notable/photographed building.

From the tower at El Badi, we could see the city.  The scale and colors of the buildings was uniform.  The satellite dishes covered the rooftops and there were loud speakers blaring the Call to Prayer.  Hearing the Call to Prayer from every direction and from several minarets. 

Our walk to the Saadian Tombs was almost disturbed by an eager salesman who told us to enter the tombs by walking through his store.  Hrm.  That didn't sound right then and doesn't thinking about it again now.  The Tombs date to the late 1500s and were buried by a later, perhaps jealous?, ruler, only being discovered and reopened in 1917. 

The carved cedar and tile work are amazingly preserved and restored.  

Walking back to the riad to freshen up for cocktails and dinner, we got lost.  We were off the beaten path and saw were real Marrakechians live.  I enjoy seeing the reality behind the touristy facade.  One complaint, though.  At 5pm, everyone seemed to get on their little motorbikes.  This caused the air to become thick with diesel fumes and we had many near death encounters with speeders.  Actually, everyone sped, so there is no real class of speeders, just drivers, I suppose. 

Jeema-El-Fna is the place for dinner. It combines food with haggling as is only possible in Marrekech. 

The next day, we visited the famous Ben Youssef Medressa.  Built in the 14th century, it was arguably the best school for studying the Koran in the Muslim world, closing in 1960.  The intricacy and size of the courtyard made it very difficult to photograph.

I was fortunate to be in Marrakech for my last full day in Morocco, because it is a city where there is plenty of shopping to be done and a willingness to haggle over price.  Several shopkeepers told me that I was hard headed and cheap.  I took this as a compliment and spent no more than 10 bucks on any item. My cheapness and exhaustion meant I was unable to get this...