Tremont Art Walk - April 2009

Tremont Art Walk
Friday, April 10th, 2009
Tremont Neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio
6-10pm

Image and Object Show at Asterisk Gallery Curated by Irina Koukhanova and Mark Slankard

Innerbelt Plan Public Meeting

Innerbelt Plan Public Meeting
Tuesday April 21, 2009
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
2187 West 14th Street, Cleveland, OH 44113
4-8pm

In accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the purpose of this hearing is to provide an opportunity for review and comment on the project’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement and for citizens to provide feedback through written, verbal or recorded verbal comments. In addition, in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, public comments are requested on projected impacts to historic properties.

Comments received (by mail, email, or fax) by 5 p.m. Thursday, May 21, 2009 will be considered in the Final Environmental Impact Statement. Comments may be submitted to:

Ohio Department of Transportation, District 12
Attention: Craig Hebebrand
5500 Transportation Boulevard Garfield Heights, OH 44125
Fax: 216.584.3508
On the Web: www.Innerbelt.org

Strangely I saw the notice after a delicious lunch at Sterle's Slovenian Country House (danger, embedded polka music!), otherwise I would have completely missed that there was the possibility of any more public input, of which I am sure there should be plenty.

Just imagine how important this project is to businesses in and around Cleveland. Then imagine how many commuters it affects as well as visitors coming from the airport. Now maybe it becomes apparent how vital the innerbelt bridge is to not only the fabric of the city but also our image. I understand the need to rush this project in order to capitalize on federal money but that should not supersede the base requirement of a project being done well.

groundbreaking vs groundbreaking

What is a groundbreaking anyway? A true marking of the beginning of the construction of a project? A milestone to simply mark an symbolic "beginning" with some kind words and the moving of a shovel full of dirt?

27 coltman

circle 118

Above are two images from two almost adjacent projects. Circle 118, which exists on the corner of Euclid and East 118th and 27 Coltman which are being constructed on Coltman and East 119th near Euclid Ave. The Euclid Avenue and the Red Line are all that separate the two sites.

It was interesting to note that Circle 118 broke physical ground in mid March and has already begun excavating (or at least started pushing giant piles of dirt around) and seemed to completely bypass the public groundbreaking ceremony. Meanwhile the Coltman project had its groundbreaking ceremony March 27th which consisted of the standard blessing, photo ops and party (held at the Sculpture Center) which drew a pretty large crowd (estimated at around 300). However the Coltman project still doesn't have any equipment on the site.

Word on the street (from a single unverified source for whatever that is worth) is that both projects have units moving and should both be realized, which would be quite an interesting achievement in this market.

So what is a groundbreaking? Is it the actual beginning of construction? A milestone that indicates that funds have been allocated and are being utilized in the building of the project or a large ceremony which attracts a large crowd and fanfare but does not indicate any actual construction? I ask because I find both happening in the absence of the other rather interesting and perhaps a little telling about the life of building projects in Cleveland.

I am leaning towards the physical moving of earth in preparation of building to indicate a true groundbreaking and even though the Coltman project threw one hell of a party, I fear they have a bit of catchup.

Craig Scott lecture reaction - KSU spring 2009 lecture series

This last Thursday, April 2nd, Craig Scott of iwamaotoscott gave a lecture/presentation at the Micheal Schwartz Auditorium at Kent State University.

The lecture happily consisted of much more than a simple traipse through a project portfolio as Scott illustrated not only a series of projects ranging from art installations and large scale masterplan proposals, but also the rigor and trials that exemplified a well thought out and practiced approach.

An aspect that permeated the projects shown was an almost childlike sense of awe at exploiting the constraints of materials. Utilizing digital media to create electronic models, ideas were quickly studied and metrics of evaluation were formed. However, what makes iwamotoscott architects so very interesting is the then deliberate exercise in physically studying the material constraints and exploring the visual and tactile relationship of construction.

From the Voissuir Cloud installation at sci arc (which employed a rigorous structural study and painstaking craft of construction to execute) to the REEF ps1 proposal (which required a half scale model to verify that the inferred material properties would react in a predictable fashion) the love of crafting shines through. Somewhere through their history, Lisa Iwamoto and Craig Scott's desire to discover the pure truths of material exploration has ingrained itself richly within the partner's ideals and it is a testament to the tenacity of the firm that these explorations are so finely executed.

I suggest that greater attention is to be paid to the impetus behind these and other proposed projects including the Ordos 100 villa, Hydro-Net (designed for the History Channel's City of the Future, and the proposal for Battery Park South (whose images should be released soon) for each project, as diverse in construction or scope as possible, rely on a sense of desire to empirically explain the truth of and through materiality and then fashion the proper technique to celebrate it.