Cleveland Centre Mural ProjectDaniel Rothenfeld Mural Art In Cleveland Ohio

The Cleveland Centre Plan encompassed the Columbus Peninsula fostering the idea of circulation to develop a lateral route across the river valley. The circulation in the landscape puts an indelible stamp on our psyche.

After more than 189 years of gradual change we discover the comprehensive city centre landmark still emulates the enclosure of an observatory, tracking the movement of daylight in the sequence of seasonal change. Here Cleveland was given the shared nature of an understanding, orienting local productivity to social and natural laws with the cultures and economies of the world.

 “An island of soul lifting land found in the clutter of over-industry.”

“We hold these truths to be self evident” ~ The Declaration of Independence

“Newton learned that the secret is in geometric arrangement and the movement of the celestial bodies”

The figure of Sir Isaac Newton looms large over the concept of a mechanical universe. In his journals he describes the world as clockwork; “An immaterial force guides the whole of creation, its presence manifesting through such phenomena as motion and gravity.” Cleveland Centre is a resurrection modeling Sir Isaac Newton’s truth, following life cycles that coincide with the Equinox and Solstice transitions and linking human order to the phenomenal world.

Rediscovering The Cleveland Centre Concept

“To unfold the beauty and happiness and mastery of life man shall be helped through incarnation”- Proverbs

From the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 an intensified American migration to the west was already well underway, making inroads where rivers and inland waterways allowed dependable internal transport. After the War of 1812 a more distinct character formed that included dramatic political innovations with the surge of western settlements. To strengthen bonds, the concept of centrality formed stable and legitimate federations, providing efficiency and effectiveness for individuals and minority groups to build larger communities.

In pre-electric America all people knew the relationship between matter and spirit was manifested in nature, traditionally represented in the “Tree of Life”, symbol of seasonal cycles growth and self-renewal.

“Man is a tree of the field” – Deuteronomy 20:19

Putting people in contact with their own divinity the “Tree of Life” etymology refers to time, infinitely bound through the genesis of soul and humanity. The “Tree of Life” is life itself, expressing a movement toward a source and a movement toward life in the Cleveland Centre Plan. Here Cleveland was given the shared nature of an understanding, orienting local productivity to social and natural laws with the cultures and economies of the world.

“To everything there is a season, there is a purpose and grace for all” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

“An island of soul lifting land…”

Project Detail Pages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Looking at the Archive Map by Chief City Engineer, Ahaz Merchant, shows a street grid encompassing Columbus Peninsula and within this river edge, the Cleveland Centre blueprint emanates. Originating dynamically from its midsection, the center-point location named, ‘Gravity Place’ fixed its hub on the rising sun, establishing a still point in the movement of time. From this central relationship a sunburst of streets fan west toward the sunset on the horizon of Lake Erie. The City Centre emanates the enclosure of an observatory tracking the movement of daylight and the sequence of seasonal change.

Current Map of  Cuyahoga  National Park

In 1796 Moses Cleveland surveyed a Euclidian Grid imposing a New England town square in the Western Reserve frontier for real estate speculation. By 1833 the Cleveland village had 5,000 residents. As population spread out between East and West side settlements at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, “Public Square” was not adequate to provide unity for the city, divided by growth and demanding a greater order.

Dedicated with the Ohio Erie Canal, the Centre established Columbus Road as the N/S axis in the environment. Originating dynamically from its midsection, the centerpiece division named “Gravity Place” astronomically fixed its hub on the rising and setting sun. At this midpoint a sunburst pattern of streets fanned westward across the peninsula creating interior allotments intended for residential and commercial growth. Streets named for various migrating nationalities ~Russia, China, German, British, French~ bisected roads named for the seasons. A Symbol of unity, penetrating barriers of language, as kinship with nature and the man were linked.

Ten years after Cleveland Centre and the Canal were established, Cleveland population zoomed to 20 thousand. Railroads, a cheaper source of transport moved in. Taking the path of least resistance, tracks followed the low-lying lakeshore and rivers edge routes. Cleveland Centre streets became active rail yards, erasing the west end of the peninsula, altering the road radius circulation. All land uses remained except for residential, driven away by industrial growth. For the next 180 years, without the critical circulation function the organizing principle of Cleveland Centre was forgotten.

Sine and Cosine Visualized:

In following life-cycles that coincide with human order, we discover global rotation is in relation to our greater reality. Situating everything, the boundary of self disappears, united to the  harmonic forces of the earth. Here the face of the Cleveland Centre becomes an historic attraction connecting Cleveland and the Canalway Towpath Trail to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park  – where outdoor exposure is a basic nutrient of life.

“For nature near home will create more respect, care, and political support for National Parks developing the conservation constituency in a newer generation that will need to protect their country’s historic sites, scenic wonders and sacred places…protecting their country’s historic sites…The National Parks are our holy places.”

Johnathan Jarvis visiting the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio

Project Detail Pages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.7.

Surviving from the pre-electric age, the local to global perspective engineers undulating view. In terms of a real relationship, immediate presence plays an important role in our esthetic. Spatial alignments with astronomic coordinates engage our perception. Conceived as a whole, the Phi Ratio of Cleveland Centre is fundamental to the experience of physical reality. An alignment portal opening a genuine encounter to distance and time.

Here, the setting on the river is calculated using the Phi Ratio framing the Columbus Peninsula edge. Joining Cleveland’s North from Public Square, the ratio curvature follows the river escarpment spiraling South to the pivotal site of St. Mary’s Church, the first catholic church in the city. The centerpiece division named “Gravity Place” fixed the compass on the sun rise. From this axis a reciprocal orientation appears configuring Leonard Street, the road layout unlocks a Phi Ratio following the curvature of the river into the site of St. Mary’s Church.

This enables us to think in long arcs well beyond the quick-flash processes of our age; there is definitely an experiential effect – bringing one to a sense of “center” – being opened in this way.

“To rediscover the past is to move forward. There is no development when we constantly destroy what we have built. The future is carved with the implements we created before it was. The past offers the different roads, all converging towards the present. Today’s present…it’s dangerous not to know – without past life memory we have no way of avoiding error” ~ Mark Tobey

Project Detail Pages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

One face turned toward the universal and another face turned towards the individual…

Rediscovering the legacy of our forebearers Cleveland Centre rises again. Just as the 1833 plan offered a calculus for Cleveland that developed into a cosmopolitan metropolis, Cleveland Centre illuminates how the city can awaken it’s core with an enduring vision. Its geocentric dimensions inspire the development of the Cleveland Centre Mural Project and the cosmic alignment of the community in contact with the environment.

Relative to engineering sine function animates Cleveland Centre as a coordinate plane that calculates the earth rotation. Thus mapping degrees of sunlight and migrations of seasonal change turns us toward all the possibilities in ourselves, merging perception to the background of eternal existence.

“We can not stick to the moving finger of time on the surface of the sphere, but must descend to the still point of the turning world.” – T. S. Elliot

There is a narrative here: Cleveland Centre of 1833 is a “gift from one age – to another.” They are connected; one flows into the next. It’s profound and the genuine historic perspective becomes a main attraction unifying the river center to metro and national parks.

“Only by reaching a center of gravity in myself capable of reconciling my different aspects will I be able to keep a precise line without deviating… It is a real understanding of energies and their relation in ourselves with everything around us… A way toward consciousness through direct experience.”  – Conge

Project Detail Pages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

“Today, Gravity Place is part of a riverfront zone on Columbus Road Peninsula in the Flats where aging industries are interspersed with attractions such as Merwin’s Wharf, the riverfront restaurant operated by Cleveland Metroparks, and recreational facilities operated by the Cleveland Rowing Foundation and the Foundry, a youth rowing program.

As the Plain Dealer’s architecture critic, I’ve been contacted through the years by Clevelanders who have wanted to float trial balloons for various redevelopment ideas… Reviving the radial street pattern in some form, possibly through rows of lights, as suggested by the rendering posted in the gallery that accompanies this column, is an idea worthy of exploration.

That’s because Gravity Place is a fascinating artifact of early 19^th-century American town planning. It echoes the radial street pattern of downtown Detroit devised by Augustus Woodward and the multi-radius pattern created for Washington, D.C., by Pierre Charles L’Enfant.

We’ve got just a little bit of that mojo at Gravity Place, and it’s worth exploring how to bring it back…”

-Cleveland Plain Dealer, Steven Litt – May 1st, 2016

Here is the link to the Cleveland Plain Dealer article

Project Detail Pages: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.7.