OK, so how can I go to Seattle and not see the Space Needle?
Hello all, I’m back from Portland, Eugene and Seattle. I didn’t get to see much official art because there wasn’t time, nor, really, the inclination, when we had so many other things to do (like check out colleges).
But I always seem to find things that pass in my mind for art –aesthetic experiences that secretly connect you with another level of existence that’s visual and intellectual and also perhaps if you’re lucky fun.
So here and in another post or two I’m going to run a few pictures and just say, wow. The northwest coast is beautiful and I’d go again in a flash. Even without seeing the inside of a museum or gallery I can say there’s plenty of aesthetic joy to be found in those parts.
So it was my idea to go up in the Space Needle.
I know, hokey. But I wanted to see the panoramic view. And it was a great one. Then, afterwards, we came out of the place and I noticed the bolts holding the thing in place. Just plain old nuts and bolts. Pretty great.
Portland Electric manhole covers.
Portland is the Rose city and there’s rose bushes everywhere and here the city’s manholes and maintenance access covers emblazoned with the image of the beautiful flower. They didn’t have to put that embellishment on what is a utilitarian piece of infrastructure. But they did. And I love ’em for it.
Ferraris in the Fifth Avenue Suites Hotel garage.
Is there any other color but red allowed? There were about 40 Ferrari’s in our hotel garage because the owners were participating in a rally up and down the Oregon coast. The cars cost around $200,000+ each and need to be tuned up after each outing.
Bridges.
Portland has two rivers, the Columbia and the Wilamette. the Columbia is a deep river port with ocean-going vessels. This bridge over the Wilamette is a sweet multi-use bridge.
What is it?–Maybe the best part of Frank Gehry’s Experience Music Project building.
Frank Gehry’s Experience Music Project building, from the outside, is a hodge podge of colors, textures and shapes, and its message, overall, is stay away. I believe it to be a complete mistake. We didn’t go in so I have no information about how the building functions. But from the outside it all but has a moat around it.
See more photos, or see these large at my flickr.
