frank gehry – Neil Flanagan

Anacostia foot bridge: a pedestrian idea?

July 31, 2011August 1, 2011Architecture, planninganacostia, basel, bridges, chicago, chloethiel woodard smith, design, frank gehry, infrastructure, joze plecnik, ljubljana, london, norman foster, prague3 Comments

Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge in Omaha/Council Bluffs. Image: Nic221 on flickr.

The bridges over the Potomac, Anacostia, and Rock Creek are very important connections over the strongest boundaries in DC. The relatively few crossings are the bane of commuters and a significant impediment to the development and livability of the DC area. So, it’s no surprise that David Garber has been advocating for a pedestrian bridge across the Anacostia. The most recent iterations have been drawing on the NCPC‘s Extending the Legacy Plan (PDF) and subsequent plans. Plus, there have been a slew of impressive and iconic pedestrian bridges popping up in the US. I think that connecting across the river would be great, but maybe something more than just a fixed link would be best for the Anacostia.

For me, the whiz-bang factor of a bridge is offset by the need for this kind of structure to work as an urban space. Creating a more pleasant route for non-motorized commuters is a good enough end, but for more casual enjoyment, it needs some other qualities. Iconic bridges tend to beautifully express directed motion from one end to another, but not the pauses and distractions of a stroll.

In a way, you create a long pedestrian-only space with no activating buildings. Without a mass of people, those spaces are alienating or unsafe.

There are some relevant examples that approach the concept differently:

Continue reading ➞ Anacostia foot bridge: a pedestrian idea?

Mixing New and Old at the Eisenhower Memorial

March 26, 2010March 26, 2010Architecture, Writingbeauty, criticism, eisenhower memorial, frank gehry, modern architecture, national mall, postmodern architecture, sculpture, traditionLeave a Comment

Yesterday, a panel selected a design concept by Frank Gehry for the Dwight D. Eisenhower Memorial The design is promising.

The large blocks form a circle, enclosing a single tree and a small pool of water. On the faces of the ring of stones, images cast in low relief and quotations in large type speak history to those inside. East and west of the central courtyard, groves of trees canopy informal plazas. At first blush, these spaces feel intimate and beautiful. Rising from just beyond the trees, large stainless steel screens supported by limestone columns enclose the space on the north and south sides. The screens will contain some of the sculptural program through a woven scrim that hides the forgettable Department of Education Building to the south. The street condition is undefined, bounded by the scrims except at three prominent areas.

The axis of Maryland Avenue cuts through the memorial, with the stone ring in the center. Building the memorial without disrupting the viewshed of the Capitol or traffic flow were seen as the two big problems. The Memorial Commission selected a design by Gehry that sidesteps the issue of sightlines, by removing one of eight columns and two sections of the screens. This way, the design frames the primary view of the Capitol with the same structures that fit it into the grid. In terms of the vehicular route, the panel rejected a vehicular road through the monument and instead created a pedestrian plaza. The site was located to move the monumental program off of the Mall. Drawing visitors, most of whom tour on foot, was equally important.

Gehry has tamed his own style is tamed for this project, although the ring of stones exemplifies the blockish forms he had been experimenting with since the opening of Walt Disney Hall. Mercifully, Gehry has also eschewed the dismal expressionism of a younger generation of memorial designers. The design team did not try to assign tremendous meaning to every little detail. Instead, it is a building that can be judged for its power and for its beauty, although people will disagree.

Continue reading ➞ Mixing New and Old at the Eisenhower Memorial

Best anti-glare solution ever.

October 26, 2009October 26, 2009Architecturecambridge, curtainwalls, frank gehry, glass, mit, robots, sunlightLeave a Comment

So the room you work in has a large glass wall. It brings in a bit of glare during the day, and this is messing up the view of your computer screen. What do you do? Buy shades? Pff. Sue the architect? Complain to the faculty advisor? No, of course not – you work in an MIT robotics lab.

Meet Shady, the sunshade robot. Developed by the MIT Distributed Robotics Lab, it actually does many other things, particularly climbing trusses, which they say is hard to do, and I’m in no position to disagree. That is a finely sharpened solution.

via Dwell, which has been profiling people who live in pieces of starchitecture (only at MIT so far, though).