Concluding a multi-year construction effort that began with the demolition of the original 1930s Sixth Street Bridge in 2016 and saw the new structure begin to rise one year later, the City of Los Angeles is set to celebrate the opening of the largest bridge project in its history with a slew of public events this weekend, July 9th and 10th.
Spanning 3,500 feet in length, the new $588 million Michael Maltzan-designed Sixth Street Viaduct reestablishes a vital connection between Downtown LA, the Arts District, and the historic Boyle Heights neighborhood by expanding the focus of transportation from merely car traffic to also prioritize pedestrians and cyclists, offering wide sidewalks as well as 10-foot-wide Class IV protected bike lanes along each side of the viaduct. The opening of the ambitious PARC project (Park, Arts, River, and Connectivity), overseen by landscape architects Hargreaves Jones, is anticipated for 2024-25.
The ten pairs of concrete arches are a playful reference to the old bridge the new viaduct replaced and support the 100-foot-wide deck crossing the LA River, the 101 and 5 Freeways, 17 railroad tracks, in addition to several local roads.
“The 6th Street Viaduct isn’t just a connection between our communities — it’s a new landmark that represents the tenacity, beauty, and promise that defines Los Angeles,” remarked LA Mayor Eric Garcetti. “I couldn’t be more excited to celebrate with my fellow Angelenos who have been waiting for this day for six years and are ready to experience the benefits of this historic project.”
Besides Michael Maltzan Architecture as the Bridge Design Architect, the office of HNTB is credited as the Architect of Record and Engineer of Record. AC Martin acted as the Urban Planning Consultant.
Ahead of the ceremonial opening this weekend, we have received new photographs from architectural photographer extraordinaire Iwan Baan.
Find more photographs and bridge plans in the image gallery below.
18 Comments
this is amazing. it really opens up a new way of looking at the bleak industrial landscape as a playground for cheerful irreverent expression.
its a nice bridge but I see this as a feat of engineering not architecture
Wrong
To be fair, Maltzan's firm did come up with the design vision for the bridge. It could've just been a regular bridge but they designed these dramatic arches that really elevates the project visually. With the collaboration of the engineers that made the structure a reality, of course.
nah man, it's got stairs. Stairs = architecture.
Good but...
So... my grandmother's Chicano Barbershop on 1st ST. in Boyle Heights, which was designed by an LA post-modern master back in the 80s... when it goes belly up because this lazy nutrient-deficient Maltzan bridge was intended as a city-sponsored big infrastructural nail in the coffin against community-led anti-gentrification struggles in Boyle Heights -- who should I go after? Should I go after Maltzan, or should I go after AC Martin, Skanska, Hargreaves? Time we teach in architecture schools how architectural designers, even the under-paid and exploited interns, are all willingly operating as private-sector bureaucratic extensions of the capitalist quasi-democratic liberal state. What does it mean to identify as pro-equity and social justice in the social-media bedroom, but laisse-fair neoliberal market-oriented in the office chair in this day in age?
Good comment, but come on bro, self-liking; get a room??
Cis, all I'm asking for is a little urban design respect for the working classes trying to make it happen in Boyle Heights. Sci-Arc killed Mariachi Plaza and the political economy of Boyle Heights as it was before Sci-Arc arrived to the Toy District looking for a cheap deal on rent. Grew up here watching my communities thrive, now watching neoliberal regimes hiding behind the aesthetic veil of quasi-avant-garde visualities claim forward thinking architecture and public infrastructure design, but if anything it's same ol' same ol' imperialist economics at work.
just because a neighborhood changes doesn't mean it is because of the evil scheming of neo-liberal elites. There's a ton of problems in this area, but focusing on ambitious and badly-needed public infrastructure projects is hardly helping.
And to answer your initial questions, go after the politicians who approved this project, or the voters who voted for them. As far as I can tell, Maltzan and the projects team did a great job of elevating a piece of functional infrastructure into a pedestrian and community-friendly projects.
If you don't like what you see, don't break the mirror, break your face.
Read Chapter 7 of Hannah Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism and add it to your design thinking reading list. You'll understand the problem at hand. No need to break faces or mirrors, just break in critical literature relevant to practices of architectural design.
If you do not understand how public infrastructure informs transformations of a region's political economy, I'd have to say you might be one irresponsible designer. My observation still stands, Sci-Arc Killed Mariachi Plaza, Maltzan helped put the nail in the coffin against working class communities and their right to determining the political economy of Boyle Heights - rather than it being determined for them under ostensible developmentalist tropes still remaining from modernist urban planning strategies deployed in European and American colonies. Furthermore, the lazy design doesn't stem from Maltzan's design office being incapable - it stems from Maltzan's office being understaffed because buddy only wants to accept projects that feed his outsized ego (much bigger than his own design sensibilities may I add) and let go talented designers who quite possibly could have made a design impact that could have served Boyle Heights without further jeopardizing the community. The veil of flashy gimmicky aesthetics is a veil and nothing more.
While I appreciated your passion, can you explain how did SCI-ARC killed Mariachi Plaza? The Plaza still there since the last time I was there and no large development in the nearby area. I know there has been a strong anti-gentrification movement in your area which is more organized than most neighborhoods who has deep connections and concerns about affordability and quality of life in a cultural/ethnic sense.
Curious how SCIarc (not in the Toy District, btw) killed Mariachi Plaza (>1mi away, on the other side of the river, in a different neighborhood)?
Most would have chalked that up to Metro and the Gold Line extension, but....
Happy to give a formal lecture at Sci-Arc in order to walk everyone through the political ecological web imbricating Sci-Arc and Mariachi Plaza
Nah; don't need a lecture from someone who can't get the basic geography and history right-
$588 million!
Always curious how much of that $$ goes to construction. Nice bridge tho.
it’s a really beautiful bridge…
I'll be excited when the parks open...
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