Art or Roadside Oddity?
by Bo Klein

A recent blog editorial questioned the quality of Mission Hospital’s sculpture near the corner of Crown Valley Parkway and Medical Center Drive. I was a member of the Mission Viejo Planning Commission during the design phase of the hospital’s expansion project. The plans for sculpture grew from the commission’s request that the hospital create an aesthetically pleasing corner.

Constraints of the hospital’s plans included large structures on limited remaining space for expansion. As a result, structures were placed close to the street. Such placement not only detracts from the architecture, it makes the area look overbuilt and crowded. To offset the project’s design constraints, the hospital agreed to incorporate a tower into the building and place sculptural art near the corner. I’ve recently driven by the sculpture, and it doesn’t improve the visual impact, nor is there a flow or consistency between the building and the artwork.

The sculpture comes across as a corporate logo for the hospital. A hospital spokesperson recently said in a newspaper interview that the sculpture is a reference to caduceus. Despite what it’s supposed to convey, the appearance falls short of my expectation.

In a news story about the sculpture, a city spokesman said Crown Valley Parkway is a gateway to the city, and the drive-by art gives everyone a sense of arrival. Arrival to what? Crown Valley has degenerated into a slow-moving freeway for cut-through traffic to Las Flores, Ladera Ranch and other developments to the east. The unattractive intermingling of apartments and businesses along Crown Valley conflicts with the objectives of a planned community.

In my opinion, the choice of design for the sculpture doesn’t add aesthetic value to the corner. What’s evident to those who frequently travel Crown Valley is the continual decline of the vicinity due to mismanaged traffic and building without adequate concern for aesthetics.