Great stuff guys...

Ed? 42? Geeky? Assuming minimal cost for what is essentially a PR exercise, is it time to put the UT brand out there as the proponent of such a design charette?

Most of the submissions, promotion etc. can be done electronically (aka time not cost), media will be interested and if even a small public event (donor legwork required) is deemed too time-consuming... we could just send the public to a dedicated charette website to view and comment (perhaps Spacing or other would consider hosting such an on-line discussion).

Don't see any down side for UT other than coming out of the closet and publicly admitting we believe this particular design direction is a wasted opportunity.
 
I'll call a few politicians on Monday, including the mayors office, and make myself heard. I'm really glad to see someone taking some action. It's a shame more people in Toronto don't speak out and demand more than some of the crap we get.
 
good effort for a good cause - count me in...
 
all for it

Considering that it's Concord Adex, not the City, that seems to be responsible for paying for the bridge, I'm all for pushing for bigger and better! They've made enough money in this area to warrant a significant investment.
 
One has to speak very loudly, and it's discouraging when there are hundreds of mediocre projects. We need a culture which expects better, but too many people in this country don't aspire to see better public spaces and architecture, just lower taxes. The culture must be developed, but it's a slow and organic process.
 
Many limitations for this bridge are being set by the rail corridor itself. Only one very specific and limited location in the corridor has been granted for a support pillar for this bridge - which itself restricts the design possibilities. Add to that, the height of the bridge is being set by the necessity of visual train signaling on the tracks.

Also, if you look at the point on Front street where the bridge is to span to, there is very little room to work with there.

I'm not thrilled by a box truss, but maybe it can be designed so as to actually capture a unique quality of the rail corridor below?
 
I think some local bridges should be referenced too - like the pedestrian bridge near Palace Pier. I also wouldn't put any examples like the Glasgow bridge, which simply isn't practical at all.
 
Hydrogen said:
I'm not thrilled by a box truss, but maybe it can be designed so as to actually capture a unique quality of the rail corridor below?
Click to expand...

I agree that there are constraints which must be met, but I am unconvinced that this is the best design for this bridge. Furthermore, what's so unique about our rail corridor in relation to other cities? (Except that because rail corridor graffiti gets buffed here, it's a lot less colorful)
 
Considering that it's Concord Adex, not the City, that seems to be responsible for paying for the bridge, I'm all for pushing for bigger and better! They've made enough money in this area to warrant a significant investment.
Click to expand...

Therein lies the problem. It shouldn't be up to Concord to build the bridge who I guarrantee has made less profit than you imagine. It's completely unfair to expect Concord to pay $25 million for a Calatravian work of art. It should be the city through a development contribution topped up with taxpayer dollars.
 
Hey maybe build the cheapest bridge possible for now, while this building transformation of the area continues and down the line deck over our busy railway lines in phases, maybe in the first phase deck Spadina to Bathurst St. with a public square similar to Melbourne,s Federation square. That would open up Front Street to a southern sidewalk and a possible LRT right-of-way.This city seems to have visions for East Bayfront, West Donlands, Tearing down the Gardiner, a 10 lane Lakeshore Blvd, etc but nothing is ever mentioned of our rail corridor which has tons of potential overtop.
Its time that the city starts talking tough with these railway companys that seem to own the place and bully the city around. :mad:
It seems that some of these 9-5 politicians that at the moment live at City Hall have very little vision and no balls regarding this issue.

Here is an example from Down Under.

Fed_Square_August_20071.jpg


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federation_Square
 
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