Observing Red Square

Red square, the plaza-like location nestled between Mandelle and Dewing, was subject of observation on the afternoon of 11.13.08. With the exception of the red brick paving, which I assume the name "Red Square" was derived, the area is generally dated, worn, tired, and doesn't mesh well with its surroundings. The seating is bench-like and very much reminiscent of what one will find in some dated pavilion of some park; I observed no persons seated on them, probably for this reason. The several people I did observe quietly passed right through the square with little to no interaction; this leads one to believe the location to be mostly a kind of pass-through area, connecting central campus to the library and proximal buildings.

Red Square projects the image most analogous to that of an everyday dated park, I have observed similarly designed components in these places. I do not feel Kalamazoo College wishes to project such an image, an image so contradictory to the understated elegance that permeates much of the rest of the campus.

I found it interesting that the college chose messy crab apple trees to flank the water feature. I observed several rotten fruits from these trees in the fountain!