by Judi McLeod, Canadafreepress.com
November 24, 2004
Radio giant Rush Limbaugh calls it "The Clinton Library and Massage Parlor".
But the $165 million dollar facility americans will be able to tour without admittance fees this Thanksgiving weekend, is according to prolific Internet bloggers a "Tower of Tacky".
The mainline media has been lofty in its descriptions of a "futuristic glass-paneled rectangle cantilevered over the banks of the arkansas River, evoking Mr. Clinton’s metaphoric `Bridge to the 21st Century’."
Try as they might, media elites can’t drown out the voices of the bloggers who have brought the vaunted library into the realm of trailer trash.
"It sure looks like a trailer home to me," chirped one blogger.
"all that’s missing are the pink flamingos," posted another.
Those who contend that Bubba’s library is little more than an exalted trailer, would not be impressed that the its builders, Polshek Partnership architects (PPa) of New York, whose projects include Carnegie’s newest concert hall and the planetarium at the american Museum of Natural History, picked up a prestigious award for the presidential library that looks like a trailer.
PPa was one of two winners in the architect Design category, awarded by the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
Perhaps library detractors know that The National Design awards were launched in 2000 as an official program of the White House Millennium Project.
"Polshek Partnership architects specializes in projects for educational, cultural and non-profit organizations and tries to combine beauty with a connection to history," co-founder James Polshek says. "architecture has a responsibility somewhat greater than making beautiful form that has some lasting meaning."
according to architectural descriptions the structure was designed to be airy and inviting and to also "mimic" six industrial bridges that span the river and contribute to the Little Rock’s aesthetic.
Detractors would undoubtedly remind us that even the most prestigious awards could rely more on politics than talent. afterall, Kofi annan won the Nobel Peace Prize.
They are taking a page out of Engineers Criticism of architects 101.
But how can the architects be blamed for building a library that looks like a trailer or a 1950s era diner when Bubba himself was the main inspiration for how the library would be designed?
James Polshek describes Clinton as "the chief cook and bottle washer" of the project.
In describing Clinton as the "editor in chief" of the project, Polshek’s partner Richard Olcott took a crack at most of the 10 other presidential libraries: "Most presidential libraries are black boxes with zero natural light."
In reaching for an "airy" look, Clinton wanted the architectural team to take advantage o f natural light.
Clinton wasn’t so lucky in the make-it-look-suspended department. "Originally, the plan was to suspend the building over the river. But the Secret Service and the army Corps of Engineers wouldn’t allow it." (The Tribune San LuisObispo.com).
Most of the $165 million costs of the building was donated by more than 112,000 people whose names are being etched in bricks in front of the library. Here’s hoping the names etched in stone include the Saudi royals, whose money has been donated to all presidential libraries. In this case, anywhere from $1 million to $20 million.
In the truth is stranger than fiction category, Polshek Partnership was also selected to design an underground exhibit at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, with writers like Paul Greenberg of TownHall.com describing the Clinton library as "a sealed off box empty at its core," no self-respecting ghosts will bother to haunt it.
"We spent a lot of time trying to make it float," says Polshek with a laugh.
So did the builders of the Titanic.
Canada Free Press founding editor Most recent by Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years experience in the print media. Her work has appeared on Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com, Glenn Beck. Judi can be reached at: judi@canadafreepress.com
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