ESSAY: Tight Meander
At the start of this year when Graham’s 318 Coffee House in Geneva reopened after major renovations I popped in to tell the owner Bob how much I admired the new look. I mentioned that I especially enjoyed the meandering path that leads to the front door. I wondered aloud if it was deliberately made with such tight curves in order to slow folks down, as in some Japanese garden designs where paths can sometimes take an unexpected or abrupt turn in an effort to slow down the walker and make them more conscious of their surroundings. Bob replied that while that’s a beautiful principle that he was unfamiliar with, the real reason for the tight meander here is more functional: should the path from the sidewalk to the front door be a straight line, it would be too steep a grade for wheelchairs to make. I found this an interesting example of how our manufactured surroundings are a vibrant mix of both the aesthetic and the practical.
ESSAY: Tight Meander
At the start of this year when Graham’s 318 Coffee House in Geneva reopened after major renovations I popped in to tell the owner Bob how much I admired the new look. I mentioned that I especially enjoyed the meandering path that leads to the front door. I wondered aloud if it was deliberately made with such tight curves in order to slow folks down, as in some Japanese garden designs where paths can sometimes take an unexpected or abrupt turn in an effort to slow down the walker and make them more conscious of their surroundings. Bob replied that while that’s a beautiful principle that he was unfamiliar with, the real reason for the tight meander here is more functional: should the path from the sidewalk to the front door be a straight line, it would be too steep a grade for wheelchairs to make. I found this an interesting example of how our manufactured surroundings are a vibrant mix of both the aesthetic and the practical.