Observation and Analysis Task

For the city of Milwaukee, the lakefront is almost like a place of worship. During summer days, especially on the weekends, people from all over the city drive, walk, ride, skate, and stroll the parks and trails along Lake Michigan. There are festivals and special events all summer through early Autumn particularly at the “Summerfest Grounds” by the lake. The downtown area pushes right up to the lakefront, but there are not that many “pedestrian friendly” connections to the lakefront. Calatrava’s addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum attempts to rectify this problem with a dominant pedestrian bridge. The Museum works itself as an axis from east to west connecting Wisconsin Ave. visually and physically. O’Donnell Park is just in between the museum and Wisconsin Ave., the park is essentially on top of a parking structure. Di Suvero’s sculpture “The Calling” is located on the park area and is also aligned with the east-west axis. The sculpture was built in 1982 and when the museum addition was finished in 2001 some patrons of the museum wanted the sculpture to be relocated elsewhere because it obstructed the view of the high profile museum. What they did not understand was that Calatrava designed his addition to directly visually relate with the sculpture. If you stand on Wisconsin Ave. looking towards the lake the sculpture and the museum are perfectly aligned, as if they are one.

O’Donnell Park was the site of my Observation and Analysis task. The time was 6:45pm on typical summer weekday. My wife and I decided to go to the site after work; we packed up some food and drinks and headed down to the lake. When we got there we quickly sat on one of the picnic tables, ate and started sketching and writing. The atmosphere in the park was rather soothing, barely any noise; the landscape around the park help filter the busy traffic noise from Lincoln Memorial Dr. As the sunset gets closer the sunlight is blocked by the tall downtown buildings on the west, reflection off the glass buildings bounces light into the park. A light calming breeze comes from the lake as you can see and hear seagulls in the distance hovering over the lake. There are very few people around the area at this time of the day: a girl in rollerblades goes over the bridge as she tries to catch her friend; a group of teenagers gather around the plaza, some of them riding skate boards and some on foot; a girl stops her bike ride, sits on a bench and starts to talk on her cell phone; as I leave, an older couple walk towards the bridge and start taking pictures of the museum and lakefront.

The art museum and adjacent O’Donnell park are visual and physical links from the chaotic city to the peaceful lake. They reflect and bridge Milwaukee’s passion for the city and the lake. This area is the heart of Milwaukee’s business district, entertainment and dinning. It is the perfect harmony of nature and architecture working together to create an atmosphere of tranquility in the middle of a busy city.