Blackhall Place Bridge
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Kind of related. I was talking to some visitors on Saturday and they all agreed, that Ireland is a complete rip-off place. They say the prices don’t justify the dreadful lack of infrastructure or quality. Suppose, if you pay Swiss prices, you expect Swiss standards!!! They were amazed that the roads are not properly maintained or EVEN signposted!
They also queried whether inaction from the top was because people at the top are wrapped up in the whole thing..
I wanted to hide, and to think tourists bring in €7 billion to the economy every year……..
The fleecing has got to stop, projects have to be finished on time and on budget or we are seriously going to end up back in the 1980s.
Interestingly. Harland and Wolf, who were partly involved in this said they finished on time and budget. Is it impossible for people down here to do the same?
So if Harland and Wolf finished the construction work on time and within budget, who the hell is getting the extra millions?
Back to the bridge… well bridges. Was the hay’panny bridge orininaly white? I liked it black and the blackhall place bridge how long will it remian white, how long will the class remain clean/intact? I thinks its a beautiful bridge but i dont think its place is in Dublin, As for the price, well from 5m to 20m need i say more. were suposed to be earning more money than ever but i makes no difference beacuse everything costs 2,3 and 4 times as much. If i wasn’t irish i certainly wouldnt come here on holiday!
I must first state that I generally am a fan of Calatava and his wonderful work world wide… however I really think that he has got it wrong in Blackhall place. Big time.
It is far to dominearing for this part of the city. The span is only 40m at this point, and the arch ribs rise to 8.5m – 9m in height. The bridge looks wounderful if you were to delete the surrounding environment. The platform itself is sleek and slender. However at its present location it looks redicilious! It bears no relation to the surrounding city scape. I have a strong suspicision that Calatava and co never even visited the site. When approaching the bridge form either the Phenoix Park or from the city center the arch ribs stick out like a sore thumb restricting the view down the river. None of the other bridges along this narrow stretch of the river are structured in such a way. I was genuinely shocked when I discovered Calatava was behind this project.
I understand the bridge is required to take four lanes of traffic and that this may be a efficiant way to deal with it structurally, but there are many solutions to every problem. In my eyes this is certainly not one of them.
Wounderfully designed as a single ellement… disaster as the collective whole, in its location.
What do you guys think? Is this just Dublin CC opening its arms to an architect of such high esteem that they fail to look at what exactly the finnished product will look like, as long as his work is included in their city, adding some kind of a feeling of architectural achivement, up there with the big boys on a smaller scale!?
You decide. I for one have.
I agree – Most of the bridges over the Liffey have the structural elements below – this is a pile on the virtual passage that runs along the quays and over the river.
The reason I think it might look out of place is that alot of what was built in the area around it is either falling down, or is poorly designed drab post-modern tripe (apartment blocks) from the early 90’s. I think we should maybe give it some time before making a final judgement. One worry that I would have about it would be the re-enforced glass pedestrian walkways. How long will they last?
i think the colour may be part of the obtrusive nature of the project.
I know that the “brilliant white” they have used on the bridge may look great in a hot bright climate, but here in dublin, it can be too harsh and really doesn’t weather that well.
what would people think of a softer colour?
What about off-white?…or even heading into the darker blue-greys perhaps?
I think it’s great and I love the way the footpath and cycle lane section is seperated by the construction from the traffic area. I like the way the path curves and I hope the glass bits are vandal proof.
If you were to go off-white you could match the ha’penny bridge. I like the whitye at the moment though.With regards to Phil and the fact that it may look poor as a result of the poorly designes apartment blocks which surround the bridge… Phil I agree, the apartment blocks around this area are of a very poor design quality for the most part, nothing special. However this is no excuse to just come along and plant a bridge which dose not consider the surrounding environment.
Yes I agree with Iuxta, now that the thing is in place the only solution is to soften it up to the city, blend it in. Ireland is not hot bright climate, so get rid of the bright white.
Again with the risk of repeating my self, I think the bridge is wonderful as a single element, supberbly designed… but not for this site. Here it is grotesquely obstructive and does nothing for the area.
If you go to google.com and type in “Blackhall Place Bridge” you will find some pics of the bridge. However the bridge looks rather well in them. They do my argument no justice. Go have a look at the bridge for your self in the flesh. You will be surprised by the contrast of the pictures, some of which are on Calatravas web site ( http://www.calatrava.com ) and make the bridge appear rather well, and the bridge in reality. Disaster!
Yeah I’d have to agree with Whatsup on this one. Bares no relation to the city at all. Its seems Calatrava is sticking to his design principles on this on has not even bothered to think of the visual impliactions of this project. Quite surprised actually that not more people are voiceing their opinion on this. It so foreign looking its scary the planners aloud this to come to fruitation. Awful.
I bet if the surrounding areas were improved and substantial buildings were built including the refurbishment of the georgian house where Joyce’s novel the Dead is set ….the bridge would’nt look obtrusive…..but would blend with its new environs.
Anyone ever do a spot of decorating where you do one room up and it makes a joining room look shoddy. This whole area of the city needs a total revamp. The bridge could be a great focal point and feature especially lit up at night. Think about it.Realistically the bridge is wholly out of place. The whole north side of the quays have taken their shape already for what will be the foreseeable future with apartment buildings with drab and poor exteriors. The south side is the only area left to redevelop but I can’t see anything that can be done there lessening the intrusive nature of this bridge. Perhaps it looked good for where it was originally designed – namly Murcia in southern Spain – but here it really is a sore thumb and a vain attempt at doing something ‘special’ for the sake of it rather than for the sake of the local surroundings.
It is a shame that it does block the up and down river views here in what is a fairly linear riverscape.
I agree with GregF. hopefully the bridge will kick start something in that area. Why do people always have to give the whole “out of place” argument when something even slightly imaginative and original is built in our cities? As I said earlier I think it is the surroundings which are the problem, not the bridge.
Phil… there is nothing imaginative about this bridge in its current location. Sorry. As Zap stated it was originally designed Murcia in southern Spain and was adapted for Dublin. Two very different environments.
Secondly, I take GregF’s point that an improvement in the area could improve the manner in which the bridge sits in the landscape. It may act as an incentive for improvements to begin.
However realistly this is not going to happen. It would cost huge amounts of money which I cannot see the government willing to spend.
Lastly, with regards to the fact that Phil thinks it the surroundings that are the problem, not the bridge I think we all agree the surrounding street scape it not of the best quality. That is irrelevent. You don’t still go ahead and say f**k it i’m still going forward with the project dispite the obstructive nature it has on the city, because it in itself is a supurbly designed bridge. Get real.
Although many people think that the Blackhall Place Bridge in Dublin is an exact copy of the Hospital Bridge Murcia, it is in fact not. The confusion arose, on the Calatrava website, from the use of the same photo of the Macken Street Bridge model as on the Murcia page. This, I think, was an honest mistake and the bridges are not the same. More importantly though is that people then looked at the photo of another model in Murcia at the bottom of the same page and presumed it to look exactly like the one to be put in Blackhall place. If you look closely at the bottom photo and read what it says about the bridges I think it shows that they are completely different in their design.
“River Segura. Triple bridge, inclined-arch vehicle decks and free spanning pedestrian deck. Steel arch. Total length and maximum span 54 m. Depth of arches 11 m.â€
A triple bridge literally means that the bridge comprises of three separate spanning sections which are built side by side.
http://www.calatrava.com/1/BRIDGES/41.htmlI also think that it is not a case of something just being plonked there for the sake of it. The bridge is forming the function of rediverting (or so it is hoped) traffic from O’Connell street. It might be the case with a building or a monument which was just placed somewhere out of place.
Here’s the Calatrave web pages to the bridges in Dublin and Murcia:
The page about the bridge in Murcia is confusing, since the first few pictures are of the Macken St. Bridge in Dublin. Scroll down and you see the Blackhall place bridge in Dublin… oh wait; no you don’t. The first pictures are in there by mistake but the second pictures are there correctly. The “triple bridge” bit is because the two pedestrian walkways are suspended either side of the road bridge.
However, the company is not that unethical. Here’s a photo of the Hospital Bridge in Murcia:
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Galaxy/2208/hospital.html
Since Geocities is so bad, I’ve attached the picture as well.
So it looks like the bridge was designed for Murcia, lost the competition and was adapted for Dublin.
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