Looking back at my notebook sketches and concepts, I came to one conclusion…my engineering side controls. I wrote a couple of points that I wanted to incorporate into my design and then didn’t, hmmm.
Curved bridge pathways – nope
height above the deck – sort of
Art / sculpture – nada
Color – is white a color?
Why? I think its because I know how difficult it is to design something different, exotic or new. Its a lot of work and often there is more risk than reward for an engineer. If it works, the concept designer gets credit, if it fails the design engineer gets credit. Tried and true is an easier path.
One of the things I would like to see is the scratches / sketches that lead designers to their final concepts. Somehow I can’t see where mine came from, oh well, here is a couple of pages from my notebook.
Well this should be my last post about the Calgary bridge competition for a while. The exciting part was seeing the opening of the designs, but I think the final choice will be anti-climatic. (concepts are the most fun part, the idea.)
I posted my last video for the ten concepts I liked, here. The videos were fun for me but I did see them getting shorter and shorter as I neared the end…..(just try and wing a spontaneous, pithy overview of a bridge)
I like to think of the videos as future job killers for me, now I have at least ten more firms unlikely to hire me. (hmmm, maybe starting a blog was a bad thing..)
It looks like the “Walkway over the Hudson” will become the highest pedestrian bridge in the world. It is a revamped railroad bridge and it looks like it has some great views. Opens October 3rd.
I received a comment from Joe on my “Bridge reviews & stuff” post. I think his thoughts go to the heart of the matter concerning bridge aesthetics between engineers and architects. Read the whole comment on the post, I will hit some of the high points.
First, I do believe that in the case of highly publicized structures, (think Calgary) it will typically boil down to a beauty contest……the reasons for choosing the final winner will be nebulous and hard to quantify.
Also remember that 95% of the built environment is not designed by an architect. (Source from the book, “Think like an Architect”, by Hal Box)
From Joe:
Aesthetics are often ignored by bridge engineers and that is one reason why we find architects in this field.
I think this is completely true but I also think it is easier to speak with the public about beauty, a concept they can see and grasp, than about a cool new structural composite. Engineers have also left a segment of the bridge market open to architects, pedestrian bridges.
I posted a couple of reviews on Youtube concerning the Calgary Bridge designs. In my defence, I am just learning how to make videos and it is difficult to go back and change a stupid comment..of which, I make a great deal.
I would like to hear some feedback about the videos, pro (if any) and con (I can take it). Is it something I should continue to murder, ahh, try…
I also need to learn how to better present my ideas, so I am working on Photoshop skills…The first picture is what I entered in the CMLC contest. The second a half hour “improvement”? Overdone? Oh well….
Updated: I added a quick video. Tell me the truth are they really bad or just lousy…
I have written about this before but I think it is the key when you are developing a bridge design for your community. Does the bridge have to rise to the level of being a “signature bridge”?
Signature:
something (as a tune, style, or logo) that serves to set apart or identify; also: a characteristic mark
Icon:
a name, face, picture, edifice or even a person readily recognized as having some well-known significance or embodying certain qualities: one thing, an image or depiction, that represents something else of greater significance through literal or figurative meaning, usually associated with religious, cultural, political, or economic standing.
Essentially a signature structure is intended as a recognizable symbol, an identity, for a city or an area. Something that looks great on a postcard, website or tourist brochure. A signature bridge is meant to look good from a distance where a camera can see the whole structure.
Sounds great, but what are the costs involved in becoming a logo? Well, money obviously, it takes a lot to achieve landmark status. (landmark bridges also take a lot of money to maintain.)
And you can’t always predict if your structure will become an icon.
The Eiffel tower is now considered the symbol of France, but it is important to remember that it did not start out that way.
The tower was met with much criticism from the public when it was built, with many calling it an eyesore. Newspapers of the day were filled with angry letters from the arts community of Paris.
Novelist Guy de Maupassant—who claimed to hate the tower—supposedly ate lunch in the Tower’s restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.
It also helps if you throw in more structure than you need (to carry the actual pedestrian loads) to give it an iconic look. Finally, it is rare that an iconic bridge can meet the needs of being truly stunning from afar and a personal, enjoyable experience for the user of the bridge. (Think great looking shoes that pinch, you may get tired of the pain over time.) It is possible to build a great structure but only time will tell if it becomes a symbol.
My last question, how many iconic bridges does the average person know?
Now I am a bridge engineer but the topic of sustainability easily applies to the bridge world as well as tall buildings. Up front costs of a bridge can be fairly high but the maintenance costs of a bridge, especially of a signature bridge, can become very large down the road.
Most engineers today design a bridge with a certain lifespan in mind. A signature bridge should be designed to last a least 100 years. It also makes sense to use local materials and the local workforce to cut transportation costs, carbon footprint costs, etc.
The paper is well worth reading, thanks Graeme for the link!
I am sure you all wanted to hear what I sound like (yuck) and sooo, I made another video discussing a possible scoring guide for the St. Patrick Bridge Competition. This is more for me than for you, I wanted to learn how screencasts are made…..
I have been invited to give a talk about context sensitive design at the World Steel bridge symposium, this November in San Antonio, Texas.
What do I know about context sensitive design, you ask? Not a lot but I am learning and I could use your help. IF you could share/suggest some images/horror/success stories that would be very helpful. I plan on making the talk about 98% images so that I don’t bore my audience to death….
On the Calgary bridge front, I tried making a little video about the criteria set out in the RFP by CMLC for the proposed pedestrian bridge. And I shamelessly hawked my own design, which I now realize was much too simple for this competition. (That may be part of my talk…what it takes to compete)
I thought it might also be fun to do short video reviews of my top ten bridge picks? (Easier than typing!)
