June 18, 2006
Schenley Plaza
Have already visited Schenley Plaza twice since its opening last weekend. I'm still a little nervous about whether will people will take to it or not. The grass is lush. The food stands have decent hoagies. The carousel is delightful because of the strange statuary rides -- my favorite is the rabbit, the weird, Edwardian rabbit. We also saw Zany Umbrella Circus, fewer acrobatics in the current show, which I didn't miss. The circus has a great grasp of certain unconscious resonances, in this case a kind of gypsy, shtetl, East European-ness that's evocative but doesn't get in the way of the circus-y stuff and the narrative-y stuff.
With continual programming, the Schenley Plaza could attract people. I hope it continues to attract people without programming (or formal programming, that is). My only two criticisms, is that I wish they'd made room for the food vans, and that there should be some places of refuge. Prospect and refuge are two things that people want in a park.
In a previous post, I'd written about my doubts about the park, and one of my main concerns was the need for Pitt to do something about the sterile Forbes Quad area. They've done something, created some greenery, added some tables and chairs. I still am not sure if it's messy enough. There's still a lot that says "Keep off the grass." For instance the metal angles on the planters that keep skateboarders off. Then again, I think those metal angles are an elegant solution to what could be a problem. The changes at Forbes Quad and Schenley Plaza will surely be worth a case study.
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Posted by mastr at June 18, 2006 09:50 AM