[OESY]

The Bridge for people to walk across to the 21st Century is on the right, providing a "patina of respectability" where cement would do, just ask Hoffa. On the left, "the rusted arching trusses of the Rock Island Railroad Bridge spans the river just west of the library. Built at the turn of the 20th century, the bridge has a crusty beauty that evokes Little Rock's industrial past," not to mention the former first lady.

"The library veranda's long, narrow form is a riff on the shotgun houses in the poor neighborhoods just south of the library. And it demonstrates Mr. Polshek's ability to connect his work to local history without mimicking it." Meanwhile, taking just enough time to mix metaphors, its "machinelike exterior looms over the setting like an aircraft carrier" projecting "charisma, the supple mind, the populist touch," the latter of which often got him into trouble when it rode roughshod over the former. If only he had used that famous line from the Jennings interview -- when talking to himself: "Peter, you don't want to go there."

Thanks for not barfing sooner. Keyboards are a terrible thing to waste. There is, however, a school of thought that holds this is an unintended parody on itself. Witness the phrases like "comparatively slick", "romantic touch", "reproduction of the Oval Office", "patina of respectability", "straining so hard to project the library's gravitas", and "the building bears down on you, creating a wonderful sense of compression." -- Ed.

[beyond the sea]

the new William J. Clinton Presidential Center has been called by promoters a "bridge to the 21st century,"

The new William J. Clinton Presidential Center has been called 'The Porn Book Store and Massage Parlor'.

[srm913]

Why oh WHY DID I HAVE TO READ THIS JUST AFTER THANKSGIVING DINNER?
If I read it again, I'll be lofting half-digested turkey, sweet potatoes, and bile an amazing distance.

[Reactionary]

The building is an ugly monument to an ugly man. It doesn't look anything like a library, and it isn't the least bit presidential.

It's a postmoden wreck. And modernism is about as inspiring as the bloated language used to describe it.

[beyond the sea]

The design fails to tap into the psychological complexity or political nuances that made Bill Clinton one of the most fascinating characters of our era

How do you make a building look like a narcissistic, self-indulgent sociopath?

[MKM1960]

With apologies to Dr. Freud: Sometimes a trailer is just a trailer. It is a crappy design for a crappy president. Sorry for the language.

[Kirkwood]

Needs golden arches and a drive-up window.

[lavrenti]

It looks like a mobile home. I know, I lived in one.

It also looks phallic. Wish fulfillment on Bill's part, considering the testimony in the Starr Report.

[kittymyrib]

That bottom picture looks strikingly like a cell block...a perfect symbol of the Clinton administration.

[airborne]

"An Earnest building"

Yeah, Earnest T. Worrell!

[chemicalman]

[Californiajones]

Thank you for the slick post.

Did anyone catch the real clincher for me?

The CLINTON'S APARTMENT over the library?

Huh? We gotta pay for their living space at this rattrap?

[GSlob]

Architecturally, the building should have been modeled after a famous dress, and painted blue.

[Californiajones]

"... the building seems to float above the landscape, echoing the forms of nearby bridges that span the river to the west. The Clintons' private apartment, wrapped in gray-green glass, is perched on top, barely visible above the parapet."

Someone let me know what the taxpayers have to pay in maintenance and upkeep on the "Clinton's private apartment" aparently one of the real reasons for the erection of their Arkansas doublewide.

[Menehune56]

Mr. Clinton spent hours fiddling with the architect to get the mood here just right. In particular, he wanted to avoid the faux glitz he found in the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library in Austin, Tex., where the Oval Office is bizarrely replicated at seven-eighths the original scale. By comparison, the Clinton version is a near-exact copy - an honest fake that manages to evoke a real sense of the weight of history.

One has to wonder if the room off the oval office where Mr. Clinton ''entertained'' Ms. Lewinsky is accurately replicated. Probably not since I understand the whole impeachment saga is characterized at this library as a right-wing witch hunt. Too bad but hopefully a Counter Clinton Library will be established to provide a truthful accounting.

[SuziQ]

These architectural elitists need to get a grip. It looks like a glorified mobile home! If they want to call that edgy, or avant garde, let them, but it's still a trailer!!

[omniscient]

A much more fitting memorial:

[Cicero]

It's a dignified approach but not a compelling one. The design fails to tap into the psychological complexity or political nuances that made Bill Clinton one of the most fascinating characters of our era - the charisma, the supple mind, the populist touch.

ROTFL.

Translation of all those characteristically liberal adjectives: Bill is slippery and evil.

[okie01]

Thanks for the travelogue.

I'll definitely put the William J. Clinton Library & Massage Parlor on my "Must Miss List".

[wagglebee]

[TASMANIANRED]

It's an over sized trailer.