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October 23, 2007
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Big Jonah located in the center of the campus at Cranbrook is the
largest of a series of pools fed by a water source housed in the small
building seen in the distance of this photo. The overflow of water
from the largest pool exits through an opening seen on the right and
feeds the next smaller pool below it, Middle Jonah and descends to the
smallest pool, Baby Jonah.
All the photos of the Jonah Pools were taken in June 2001.
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The small end of Big Jonah is the "tail" of the whale shaped pool.
The story of Jonah and the Whale is Biblical in origin.
Carl Milles
created the bronze sculpture Jonah Fountain in 1932 and it was
placed at the end
of Academy Way overlooking Big Jonah. The smaller pools were
physical metaphors for air bubbles the whale was blowing. This was
some lore that was explained to us as children and this is not written
down anywhere as far as I know. Big Jonah has much less water in the
bottom of it now than what you see here. Liability is a concern.
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Middle Jonah carpeted with algae. The Jonah pools have not
been in use since 1999. This was the year the
Williams Natatorium- a state of
the art swimming complex- was completed at the Cranbrook Campus near the
Keppel Gymnasium. The Jonah pools only serve a decorative role now
and have been in a state of neglect and decay for 8 years.
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I learned to swim in Middle Jonah and took many lessons at the dock
seen at the far end of the pool. The depth of the water in Middle
Jonah was perfect for learning how to swim because the water was never
over your head. One had to pass certain swimming benchmarks before
moving on to Big Jonah where the steep incline quickly put you in murky
water over 15 feet deep.
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The overflow from Middle Jonah descends into Baby Jonah
over stepped rocks. Baby Jonah is the shallowest of the three
pools at just 1 or 2 feet deep. This pool was intended for the
youngest, smallest swimmers who were just discovering what a shallow
body of water was like.
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But on this day, there was no one swimming except mature tadpoles.
The sun heated up the shallow water to the perfect temperature for frog
reproduction.
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So what is to become of the Jonah Pools now that
they are no longer in use? I have several ideas that I recently discussed
with Williams Natatorium architect Tod Williams during an recent alumni event
that took place here in New York City.
With art playing such an important role on the
Cranbrook campus why not create an art installation/exhibit within the perimeter
of Big Jonah? The artist that has inspired me is French artist Daniel
Buren. I visited Paris in 1989 and was very impressed with his public art
installation in the courtyard of the Palais Royale titled "Les Deux Plateaux."
What impressed me was how much the public thoroughly enjoyed the space.
There is plenty of room to play around the cropped columns and there was lots of
skateboarding going on. Children could take a step up and the general
ambiance was freewheeling. Big Jonah could be partially filled
leaving a level sunken floor approximately 1 or 2 feet deep to create the base
for columns such as the ones seen below.
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Les Deux Plateaux by Daniel Buren (1985-1986)
To learn more about Daniel Buren click
here. This
photograph was taken in Paris in April 1989.
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| Pool of the Canopus at Hadrian's Villa - country
residence built c. AD 125-134 at Tivoli near Rome by the emperor
Hadrian. This villa is considered the epitome in architecture.
These photographs were taken in September 1985. |
Of course Big Jonah could remain filled with
water and properly chlorinated- and continue to be used as an alternate swimming
venue from June 1st through Labor Day- the way that municipal pools operate
here in New York City. Some of Buren's taller columns could run along the
border of Jonah in a manner similar to the columns and statues that surround The
Pool of the Canopus at Hadrians Villa. Carl Milles often referred to the
ancients for inspiration. Why not apply a similar treatment to Big Jonah?
As far as funding, why not let the French
government offer to pay for it. How about inviting or commissioning Daniel
Buren himself to create the project? This would bring an international
spotlight to Cranbrook and offer a counterpoint to the lawn based art often seen
around the grounds.
The ideas I have introduced here do not address
the smaller pools, Middle and Baby Jonah. I invite further discussion
about this topic with all who are interested. Please send your thoughts
and comments to
sylvieball@worldnet.att.net
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