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Olympic Sculpture Park
The new sculpture park on the waterfront in Belltown, north of Pike Place, is built on an irregular-shaped tract of land, perched over railroad tracks, bustling streets and retaining walls. Among the prominent features along the art promenade that weaves through the park’s manicured, sloped green space is a glass bridge canopy; a steel sculpture of a leafless tree; a tilted greenhouse built around a nurse log; a pavilion and an amphitheatre. The views from the park are as diverse and spectacular as the creative blend of art. Look in one direction and there’s the Space Needle and condos. Look down and you see the train tracks. Turn around and you see the inland shoreline, and the majestic, snow-capped mountains in the distance.
The nicest gem is the sculpture of the silver tree in winter. It blends so naturally into the landscape that I missed it the first time I strolled down the path. The metal will probably appear more out of element, if you may, in the summer, with all the other trees sprouting leaves, and the summer rays bouncing off the silver branches. I wasn’t as impressed, however, by the Seattle Cloud Cover bridge canopy with its radioactive clouds. The name and the colossal size of the structure bring to mind a work of art that’s supposed to reflect and interact with the natural environment and surrounding cityscape. And from afar, it is quite intriguing, and looks like, up close, it reveals some mystery. And before visiting the park, I interpreted the pictures I saw to mean that the structure might come to define the new park – and Seattle – as a venue for world-class contemporary outdoor art, the way the Millennium Bean (formally Cloud Gate) symbolizes Chicago’s art culture and the glass pyramids of the Louvre define Paris. I thought, however, that the spangled purple and turquoise clouds seemed disconnected from the space. And as I crossed Seattle Cloud Cover, I was reminded of a project to revitalize a dreary and decrepit elevated subway platform. Of course, it is art, so I might appreciate it more under different light.
The sculpture park transforms an area which had long been an eyesore into an artful urban playground for locals, and it will no doubt continue to have an astounding effect on everything from restaurants to real estate in the surrounding area. It is still, however, a work in progress. The freshly-planted trees, for instance, will be much more impressive in the summer.
Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park opened to the public on Saturday, January 20. Most of the multimillion dollar cost came from private donors, many of whom are connected to Microsoft.
Waterworks gardens: science as art
The Waterworks Gardens in Renton (south King County) naturally filters the storm water runoff from the adjacent South Treatment Plant, which processes wastewater and storm water from homes, businesses and industries along the east side of Lake Washington. The water that flows through the gardens is channeled through wetlands and ponds, which are connected by a series of pipes, and sorrounded by local vegetation and filtering plants used for water purification.
The Waterworks Gardens is built on a hill, across the street from the Black River Riparian Forest, home to one of the largest Great Blue Heron colonies in Washington. The nature walk through the gardens weaves through the interconnected ponds and wetlands, showcasing the natural purification process of water. The path starts off at The Knoll, an art structure comprising a series of pillars, and beneath which wastewater is pumped. The water is then funneled through the beautifully arranged ponds below, where it is purified. Beneath the snow, we could make out metal grating, gravel and colorful red asphalt, lining the path. I suppose these distinct surfaces mark the different phases of the water treatment process along the path.
The panels in the park explain the five rooms – or stations – through which the water is filtered. The artificial grotto at the core of the garden does not play a role in the purification process.
The Waterworks Gardens in the City of Renton is located at 1200 Monster Road Southwest. The entrance is right below the water tower.
La bibliotheque centrale de Seattle
The Seattle Central Library is an irregularly shaped, 11-story building that looks like a giant origami crane, folded out of a sheet of glass and steel. The vues outside and inside are stunning.
The library opened to the public in 2004.
Inaugurée en 2004, la Bibliothèque Centrale de Seattle est une structure de 362,987 pieds carrés (34,000 m²), étalés sur 11 niveaux. L’edifice est un mariage réussi d’acier et de verre. Ses formes irrégulières rendent le batiment étonnant a plus d’un égard.
Seahawks fever
The metallic blue flag bearing the number 12, represents the twelfth “man” in a football game – the supportive crowd. American football, like soccer, allows eleven players per team on the field at a time during play. Seahawks fans, with their ardent support for their team and passion for the game, represent the twelfth man on the field. The 12th Man flag was placed atop the Seattle Space Needle to rally fans during postgame play.
Strong winds and heavy rains have tattered the flag, but the spirit and fervor of Seahawks fans remains intact.
Le grand drapeau de couleur bleu métallique, et qui porte le numéro 12, symbolise le douzième homme dans un match de football américain, à savoir les supporters dans le stade. Le football américain se joue a onze, comme le football traditionnel. Collectivement, les supporters des Seahawks, avec leur passion pour leur équipe et l’amour du jeu, sont le douzième homme sur le terrain. Le drapeau du douzième homme a été placé au sommet de la Space Needle de Seattle pour rassembler les supporters lors des séries éliminatoires du NFL (National Football League).
Des vents violents et des pluies torrentielles ont déchiré le drapeau, mais l’esprit et la ferveur des supporters sont restés intacts.
Volunteer Park
Space Needle
A New Year
Reveillon
The Lusty Lady: destination pour fêter notre entrée dans le millésime 2007, peut-être pas, mais j’apprécie leur sens de l’humour.
The Lusty Lady (la dame grivoise) est une boite de strip tease/voyeurisme à Seattle, qui se trouve sur First Avenue, sur un pâté de rue plutôt lugubre, avec des signes de décrépitudes (en 2005 au moins). Lors d’une de nos premières balades en voiture, en octobre 2005, j’ai lu, sur leur panneau d’affichage « All Clothing 100% off », « 100 % de baisse sur tous les vêtements ». En tant que nouvelle résidente de la ville, j’ignorais la « raison sociale » de l’établissement. Je pensais que c’était un magasin de vêtements spécialisé dans les robes de soirée (paillettes, plumes, scintillements)… C’était amusant.
Ils mettent à jour leur message relativement souvent. Ca fait partie de la vie de quartier de downtown Seattle.
Photo: “Les résolutions pour le nouvel an”. (“Lewd” veut dire lubrique en Anglais).
Snow and Record Rainfall in Western Washington
As of Thursday morning, Seattle had received 15.63 inches of precepitation, breaking the all-time monthly rainfall record.
Seattle received some 2 inches of snow on Monday (snow is melted to determine how much rain it represents). The roads are really icy and driving is dangerous. It is really beautiful outside and quite enjoyable – provided you don’t have to drive.
As of Friday, November 23, Seattle had received 14.29 inches of rain. This is city’s wettest November and we are about an inch away from the all-time monthly rainfall record of 15.33 inches (December 1933).
November is typically Seattle’s wettest month, with an average of 5-6 inches of rainfall.
Mobile Deli
It is truly amazing what people do in their cars other than drive. Perhaps it’s a sign that we’re spending too much time behind the wheel. Perhaps automatic vehicles make the task of driving seem to easy. Two nights ago, a driver turning into the driveway in her truck came dangerously close to me. She didn’t even notice me because she was talking on her cell phone and fighting with her garage door opener. Last night, I was trading driving horror stories with a friend who mentioned that she saw a motorist making sandwiches in her SUV. The woman pulled up next to her when she was stopped at a light. When the light turned to green, the woman was still turned around handing out freshly prepared sandwiches to her kids in the back seat. When she drove off, she noticed the opened sandwich fixings spread out in the passenger seat of the neighboring car.
It’s scary that people don’t realize they are not operating mobile delis but machinery that can kill.
Majestic Christmas Trees
This year’s Washington DC Christmas tree is a 65-foot Pacific Silver Fir cut from the Olympic National Forest on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State. The Rockefeller Center tree is an 88-foot Norway spruce from Connecticut.
While the Capital Christmas tree is cut from a national forest, the Rockefeller tree is usually cut down from someone’s back or front yard. Spruces in forests typically don’t grow tall enough to meet the Rockefeller standards.
V, A, A, T and D family blog 