Paul Goldberger Response

     The whole chair memorial idea was very clever in my opinion. Having each chair represent a person is rather symbolic; especially the size difference in chairs. People can see how many kids and adults have died altogether. The whole set up is unique as well. Having them face the surviving tree groups all of the affected factors within the disaster.
      The museum next to the memorial is pretty interesting from what I read. It actually helps the audience understand a little more about the incident. Viewers can actually read about other people's anecdotes of the disaster. At the same time, they can see photographs of when it happened. That allows for them to be able to directly relate to the incident somehow. The re-creation of the whole disaster seems to be the most helpful in terms of understanding the actual incident of the disaster. However, I'm not too sure how I feel about the disaster reenactment at the museum. I think it is good to inform the general public about how the explosion happened, but I believe the museum's re-creation does not do too well a job. It captures the scare aspect with the whole explosion sound and black out. On the other hand, I do not think that it truly obtains the essence of the whole disaster.It is a lot more than just a loud noise and black out.
      I decided to put a picture of Chicago after the Great Chicago Fire because this article reminded me of it. Back in grade school, I remember taking a field trip to a place where it had an exhibit on the fire. It was rather similar to the museum in Oklahoma City. I read and listened to stories about the fire, observed photographs and drawings of the disaster, and I even heard audio of the incident.