Friday, March 5, 2010

Bird's Eye on Parkside


This remarkable, bird's-eye view of the corner of Jewett Parkway and Summit Avenue comes to you courtesy of Bing Maps, the latest web-based, 3D mapping tool.  The image is up-to-date, showing the restored Martin House Complex and Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion in the context of their neighborhood.  

Such imaging allows you to see the spatial "dialogue" between the Pavilion and the complex of Wright's buildings, enfolding space within the campus-like site and the gently-curving streetscape of Parkside.  The image also offers perspective on the Martin House site's relationship with the older structures of the Church of the Good Shepherd, the Wicks House and 143 Jewett.  But, given the historical referents of those buildings and their at-attention stance with regard to Olmsted's neighborhood, the "dialogue" between them and the Martin House / Greatbatch Pavilion might be described as "talking past one another," rather than having an intimate chat.  

Until George Stock builds that small dirigible he's been talking about all these years, Bing Maps (or its equally impressive counterpart Google Earth) will have to suffice for your aerial perspective needs.  

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