{"id":5512,"date":"2011-03-28T00:05:08","date_gmt":"2011-03-28T04:05:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingottawa.ca\/?p=5512"},"modified":"2013-01-21T09:28:04","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T14:28:04","slug":"walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/","title":{"rendered":"WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The City is conducting studies for the placement of a ped-cyclist bridge over the Rideau River connecting Somerset E to Donald Street. I think this will be a very useful link. I am also delighted that we are constructing a link based on its own merits and appeal to cyclists and peds and not just as an appendage catering to motorist origin-destination desires.<\/p>\n

From the newsletter of the study team, I espy the following comment, which is pretty typical for Ottawa: “the design should look to enhance the natural environment and reduce visual obstructions of the river vista”.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hmm. Am I over-reacting when I read this as a wish for a bland, innocuous bridge that is self-effacing and minimizing? And cheap, too?<\/p>\n

And not, in contrast, something that is dramatic and artistic in its own merit? Consider this ped-cyclist bridge proposed for Calgary, conveniently already in Ottawa colours:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

That bridge is the opposite of minimal visual impact, it treats the bridge as a sculpture. Ottawans, of course, prefer something with wooden planks and rusted steel girder sides, as constructed on so many NCC paths. And then, ta- da! we will take 1% of the budget and install an “artwork” to beautify it or something. (Actually, we spend 1% but at least 20% of that 1% is consumed with “overhead” expenses to run a competition and pay the bureaucrats administering the project).<\/p>\n

The above design is by Santiago Calatrava. Here is a view from the ped or cyclist point of view, no 1% artwork budget required:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Lest you think we have to go European to get a great bridge design, here is a design from Toronto-based Ja Studio for the Lent-Tabor Bridge in Maribar, Slovenia:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The undulating bridge is white on top, with red reflective panels on the bottom. There, another design in Ottawa colours. And not just a bridge, it creates its own space, an attraction, a huge functional expansion of the adjacent park space.<\/p>\n

From Calgary to Slovenia cities are considering pedestrian and cyclist bridges that are sculptural and beautiful as well as functional. Any chance we could ever even consider such a design?<\/p>\n

Here’s two more illustrations of how the Maribar bridge would work:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The City is conducting studies for the placement of a ped-cyclist bridge over the Rideau River connecting Somerset E to Donald Street. I think this will be a very useful link. I am also delighted that we are constructing a link based on its own merits and appeal to cyclists and peds and not justContinue reading “WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7056,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5302],"tags":[3160,820,724,3159,3155,3158,394,792,3162,3163,3156,3161,421,3157,486],"class_list":["post-5512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-bridge-the-city","tag-calgary","tag-cyclist","tag-lent-tabor-bridge","tag-maribar","tag-maribar-bridge","tag-ottawa","tag-rideau-river","tag-santiago-calatrava","tag-slovenia","tag-steel-girder-sides","tag-that-bridge","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-based-ja-studio","tag-walkspace"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge - Spacing Ottawa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge - Spacing Ottawa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The City is conducting studies for the placement of a ped-cyclist bridge over the Rideau River connecting Somerset E to Donald Street. I think this will be a very useful link. I am also delighted that we are constructing a link based on its own merits and appeal to cyclists and peds and not justContinue reading "WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing Ottawa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-03-28T04:05:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-01-21T14:28:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/westsideaction.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/rrideau-river-xing.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Eric Darwin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Eric Darwin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/\",\"name\":\"WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge - Spacing Ottawa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\/\/westsideaction.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/rrideau-river-xing.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-03-28T04:05:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-01-21T14:28:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#\/schema\/person\/73504b4727bf2105dad483d3f4e5a35c\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/westsideaction.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/rrideau-river-xing.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/westsideaction.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/rrideau-river-xing.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing Ottawa\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Ottawa Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#\/schema\/person\/73504b4727bf2105dad483d3f4e5a35c\",\"name\":\"Eric Darwin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/619caaa6497436a720881ef9166d77da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/619caaa6497436a720881ef9166d77da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Eric Darwin\"},\"description\":\"Eric Darwin writes the popular blog West Side Action, and is active in community planning initiatives. He is president of the Dalhousie Community Association and has a background in geography, transportation, and was an entrepreneur.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/westsideaction.blogspot.com\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/author\/ericdarwin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge - Spacing Ottawa","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge - Spacing Ottawa","og_description":"The City is conducting studies for the placement of a ped-cyclist bridge over the Rideau River connecting Somerset E to Donald Street. I think this will be a very useful link. I am also delighted that we are constructing a link based on its own merits and appeal to cyclists and peds and not justContinue reading \"WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/","og_site_name":"Spacing Ottawa","article_published_time":"2011-03-28T04:05:08+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-01-21T14:28:04+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/westsideaction.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/rrideau-river-xing.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Eric Darwin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Spacing","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Eric Darwin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/","name":"WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge - Spacing Ottawa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/westsideaction.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/rrideau-river-xing.jpg","datePublished":"2011-03-28T04:05:08+00:00","dateModified":"2013-01-21T14:28:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#\/schema\/person\/73504b4727bf2105dad483d3f4e5a35c"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/westsideaction.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/rrideau-river-xing.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/westsideaction.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/rrideau-river-xing.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/2011\/03\/28\/walkspace-we-can-do-better-than-a-self-effacing-bridge\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"WALKSPACE: We can do better than a self-effacing bridge"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/","name":"Spacing Ottawa","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Ottawa Architecture, Urban Design, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#\/schema\/person\/73504b4727bf2105dad483d3f4e5a35c","name":"Eric Darwin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/619caaa6497436a720881ef9166d77da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/619caaa6497436a720881ef9166d77da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Eric Darwin"},"description":"Eric Darwin writes the popular blog West Side Action, and is active in community planning initiatives. He is president of the Dalhousie Community Association and has a background in geography, transportation, and was an entrepreneur.","sameAs":["http:\/\/westsideaction.blogspot.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/author\/ericdarwin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7056"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5512"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5521,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5512\/revisions\/5521"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/ottawa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}