interesting….. [ Calatrava ]
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… found on a local community group website:
“According to the Dublin Corporation Development Plan, the [Macken Street] bridge is a number one priority. It was stated in the Irish Times on Saturday 27th February that the city manager (John Fitzgerald) has a draft drawing of the bridge locked in his office. The bridge is being designed by a famous Spanish designer.”
anyone able to shed any light on this?
DUBLIN CORPORATION PRESS RELEASE – 27th January, 1999
Design of Blackhall Place & Macken Street Bridges. Appointment of Santiago Calatrava VallsThe General Purposes Committee of the City Council was advised Monday, 25/1/99 on the design of the bridge to be built at Blackhall Place and also to the current proposal for a bridge at Macken Street. The Blackhall Place Bridge is situated at the western end of the North King Street Scheme and is currently with the Minister for the Environment and Local Government for approval. The proposed Macken Street Bridge is in the Draft Dublin City Development Plan 1998.
The design requirement for these bridges should not be merely for further functional additions to the City’s infrastructure, but should also enhance the Civic Amenities of the City, in terms of design and visual impact.
Santiago Calatrava Valls (regarded as the pre-eminent bridge designer in the World) was approached and he agreed to take on the commission.
Dr. Caltrava is a keen Joycean Scholar, and currently lives in the house in Zurich occupied by James Joyce, when Joyce lived in that City.
The southern end of the Blackhall Place Bridge will be located on Ushers Island, which is the setting of Joyce’s most famous short story “The Dead”. The City Manager has appointed Dr. Calatrava to undertake the Architectural and Engineering Design for both bridges. As Dr. Calatrava’s practice is conducted from offices on mainland Europe, he will be operating closely here in Dublin with locally – based consulting engineers, who will be making a significant contribution to the overall project realisation.
Does anyone else think that this looks just the tiniest bit oversized?
Yes…. and the river is so narrow there… with Calatrave you really need a nice long span with the Liffey is such a small river by European standards, that the bridge is going to look bulky…
Yep,
I must agree [ though it is only a mock-up ]
It looks slightly ridiculous. Perhaps the framework should be finer?I can imagine it now in the guide books. Come see the spectacular new Liffey Bridge {pictured here }bringing Ireland into the 21st century – or some tripe like that.
“Gee honey – it looks like the coathanger bridge in Sydney – let’s go see!.”
They see it…
“What the hell? Call that a bridge? It’s tiny.”
Actually, come to think of it – finer frameway would lessen the bulkiness at the expense of substantality [a word? ] but would perhaps only increase the illusion of hugeness in photos.
I don’t know – who the hell needs it anyway?
John
If this photo impression is accurate, we are in for it bigtime! This design is totally out of place at this extremely narrow stretch of the Liffey. Its height looks set to obscure quayside views up or downriver. Such an intrusive design should never have been proposed, in my opinion. Surely we can a have modern design that is also in proportion with the site?
Alas, this whole thing symbolises the idiocy of the city planners who have already destroyed big chunks of what was once a gracious and attractive city.
I thinlk there’s currently a way of thinking that “if Barcelona / Paris / other leading european cities have then why shouldn’t we” and this is despite the fact that as a very compact city [compact in that the original city centre is very small] the scale of these developments do not suit the city… – this also applies to Georges Quay, Spencer Dock and now this bridge. The new footbridge between the Ha’penny Bridge and Essex bridge is much more suitable.
I agree with those who feel Calatrava is only commissioned to build a bridge in Dublin because of international city rivalry.
Calatrava virtually reinvented bridge design a decade or more ago, but since then he has seemed unable to move his ideas forward: esentially, all Calatrava bridges are now the same.
Nor does having one guarantee a city international renown anyway. He has done one in Manchester that is comprehensively overlooked.
Now that Dublin is calling in SOM and Kevin Roche and Calatrava, it can be only a matter of time before you get Norman Foster, Richard Meier and Frank Gehry – also fixtures on the international circuit. At this rate, everywhere will end up the same as everywhere else.
How come we’re not looking at other peoples mistakes. Dublin 2050 will be dittoed from any itinerary if we allow all thes mistakes which are obviously making misplaced or deceiving government officials very rich!!
Sydney bridge Dublin sounds appealing!!…Not.any further news on this
Wanted to mention that there have been at least two small pedestrian bridges built in Toronto within the last few years that may interest you. Both are of high design quality and I think that one was designed by Calatrava.
The first bridge did have a high arcing “top chord” that was finely articulated and in fact does not look overpowering. The most recent (still being designed) also has a high arcing element, although it is singular and the walkway is somehow cantilevered from it.
While neither is in an intense urban “place”, they are both finely crafted and suitable.
Sorry, I have no way of sending photos.looks like its going ahead….
‘Golden Gate’ bridge gets go-ahead
The Irish IndependentDublin is set to get its own mini-Golden Gate bridge across the Liffey as part of a major new road improvement scheme on the city’s north quays, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern announced last night. Only days after the pedestrian Millennium Bridge was opened, he gave the go-ahead for the new 2.8m project to be built at the junction of Blackhall Place linking Ellis Quay in the north to Usher’s Island on the southside of the river. The scheme is designed by Spanish architect Dr Santiago Calatrva and maximises off-site fabrication, reducing problems at the site.
http://www.independent.ie/1999/355/d09i.shtmlMy problem with the Macken Street bridge is that it seems to close off river access for large hoats / small ships. They keep closing off more and more of the river.
Larger image at http://www.dublincorp.ie/pics/guild.jpg
However is’nt the proposed Macken St. bridge a beautiful piece of work, and the concept of a swivel arm to open and close marvellous. Looking at the picture of it reminds one of a huge horizontal harp. How appropriate and emblamatically Irish.I trust no Irish designer could have done better. Pity about the surroundings though regarding both bridges………. crappy Irish designed buildings,typically bland and boring,having no flair or style, ZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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