“The Garden Bridge is a land grab,” says Michael Ball of Thames Central Open Spaces. “That is, a major piece of public space and amenity – the South Bank, the River Thames, and the views across central London – would be sequestered for private interests, albeit cloaked in some appearance of charity and beneficence. When I saw Pier 55 I realised it was an even more blatant example of the same idea.” — The Guardian
In this piece design critic par excellence Alexandra Lange analyzes two similar Thomas Heatherwick designed-projects, London's Garden Bridge and New York's Pier 55, in the hopes of discovering why one seems to be resonating with the public while the other has inspired satiric contests to replace it. Murky funding issues, misleading renderings, Absolutely Fabulous tie-ins: it's all here.
For more on the saga of the Garden Bridge:
8 Comments
I could see the island in a coastal metropolis without any park space, but NYC is the wrong place for it. Still, NYC critics don't really have much credibility these days since they only write about contemporary issues when a big star is involved ... then they expect the public to care about preservation of 1950s buildings.
come on, no one cares to see Jersey. block it with Pier 55, property values will go up and up.
btw that lady and her friends are the best clients an architect could dream of.
ODN, exactly.
Context and property so matter when discussing these two projects. The bridge blocks a view, threatening historic views across the river and property values as a result. The however, is a continuation of landscape fabrication made to both increase property values and to control access.
Sure, the designer is the same, and there's some water involved in both projects, but socially and economically they are very different.
I don't know, I see them both as expensive naming opportunities for rich people to appear philanthropic by giving cities "gifts" no one asked for.
True, but the difference is that in London the naming gift is seen as a hinderance to established property and money.
In New York it's part of a larger agenda to engage the edge of Manhattan. In some respects it is a counterproposal to the dryline (the people in the video will likely not be on Heatherwick's island). Also keep in mind that the Highline was a "gift," perhaps not to local residents, but it was seen as a benefit by the city given how it transformed the meatpacking district and is helping to drive development at and around Hudson Yards. As has been said, Pier 55 is just another landscape bauble on the west side of Manhattan that can attract wealth through spectacle.
Succeeding might be a bit generous. No one cares might be the more apt description.
Who is the lady with the cigarette ?
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