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January 27, 2007        

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The rumor was going around at last night's Critical Mass--Seattle's in for a week
of clear skies! Unbelievable. Yes, it will be colder than usual and the air might
get a little brown without our normal cleansing precipitation, but that's the price
one pays for rejuvenating sun. I met Sarah at Seattle Art Museum's newly
opened (though unfinished) Sculpture Park which straddles a highway and
railroad tracks down by Eliott Bay. The best work there are the Olympic
Mountains
themselves, snowcapped and sharp above the broad expanse
of Puget Sound. We bumped into Mark Sullo and his friend Susan--just
the kind of casual social encounter Jan Gehl attributes to active
public spaces. It's great to see people of all ages flocking
somewhere to be confronted by art, the word sculpture
on everyone's lips. Being there, I began seeing
everything as sculpture–mountains, people,
construction cranes, the sky itself a mold
pressed against the earth's surface. The
park is a sculpture as well–what I'd
thought was solid ground turned
out to be the green roof of a
parking garage. Olympic
Sculpture Park sets a
good example of what
should be done with
Seattle's shoreline
at a time when its
fate is being
decided
:
NO VIADUCT,
NO TUNNEL,
NO PROB-
LEM!
NO VIADUCT - NO TUNNEL - NO PROBLEM!