Span « 360Photography

RSS

Posts Tagged ‘Span’

East Coast Greenway: Longest Bike Trail in US to Span 2,900 Miles

30 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

east coast greenway

The East Coast Greenway is already a third of the way to completion, and when finished will stretch from Calais, Maine, to Key West, Florida, passing through 16 states and 25 cities along the way.

ecg

Developed by the non-profit East Coast Greenway Alliance, the aim is to provide a continuous and ever-changing set of views and experiences to travelers on foot or in non-motorized vehicles.

east coast trail

Its creators note that the “route has been chosen to provide the traveler with an ever-changing, interesting and scenic landscape, whether urban, suburban, small town, industrial or rural,” accessible to cyclists, walkers, joggers and runners. Along the way, the Greenway also syncs up with public transportation at key spots, allowing easy access and egress for people seeking to pursue one stretch of it or another.

“It’s about seeing America at the right speed, where you can take in all of the culture around you. And you don’t have a windshield between yourself and the community.” While the project has been in the works for years, new funding and permissions gained in the last year have propelled it forward more quickly, helping its facilitators connect the dots along the nearly 3,000-mile route.

[ By WebUrbanist in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

Comments Off

Posted in Creativity

Binational Megacity: Master Plan Designed to Span US-Mexico Border

18 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

border city plan

Border City is being designed as a bridge between nations, a novel approach to creating international unity at a time when some politicians call for building walls. Proposed by architect Fernando Romero of the firm FR-EE at the London Design Biennale, this visionary project is to be developed along a region of border covering parts of Texas, New Mexico and Chihuahua.

futuristic border city

The plan is centered around an extant border crossing and aligned with other crossings in the area as well. It may sound far-fetched, but Romero is already negotiating with private land owners in the region as well as developers and investors. He hopes to make the city a reality within a decade.

border city design

Romero believes our existing concept of borders is “primitive” and sees and urgent need to move past binary understandings of such divides. Already, many global centers of economic activity are centered not around cities but rather clusters of metropolitan areas, often along national borders.

border city map

“This is a long-term vision, a vision that is not about building walls but about thinking more ambitiously about the mutual relationship [between two countries] and about what borders really mean between countries” said the architect. It is also a reflection of current reality, where there already “exists a very strong mutual dependency of economies and trades.”

border city installation

The urban plan consists of interconnected hexagonal-shaped grids, each with their own center and linked to existing transportation corridors and border crossings. If his proposal is fully realized, the city could even become a special economic zone (see also: Hong Kong and Andorra) that would enjoy semi-independent governance.

border city room

Even without that kind of designation and semi-autonomy, however, there would still be big benefits to residents and businesses in terms of easy access between countries due to optimized transit and city planning. Many “twinned” border cities along the Rio Grande have already benefited from close ties despite extant borders, despite the lack of centralized and ground-up plans to optimize connectivity.

border city utopia

“What you’re seeing here is the first binational city to be designed from zero between the United States and Mexico,” said Romero. “This is one of the most active borders in the world in terms of commerce and traffic of goods but also in terms of human activity and employment.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

Comments Off

Posted in Creativity

World’s First Floating Underwater Tunnels to Span Fjords in Norway

30 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

subsurface bridge

Norway is working to create the world’s first “submerged floating bridges,” suspended from surface pontoons and engineered to span its vast network of wide and deep fjords. A system of truss-framed tubes hung 100 feet below the surface will be wide enough for two traffic lanes. They will also be easier, faster and cheaper to construct than underground tunnels or over-water bridges, at least in the complex sites for which they are being planned.

underwater bridge norway

Norway already has over a 1,000 traffic tunnels (including a few dozen subsurface ones), but anchoring these to the ground in deep fjords is impractical. Also, long spans mean more complex engineering (and higher costs) for surface bridges. The nation currently relies heavily on a system of less-efficient ferry routes that can be unpredictable and impacted by weather.

floating bridge seattle

Floating bridges on the surfaces of water bodies are common in places like Seattle, where a combination of length and depth makes traditional bridges more difficult and less cost-effective. Essentially, underwater tunnel bridges would work the same way, except the pontoon supports will reside above rather than below the roadways.

nautical underwater first bridge

Underwater bridges also have advantages for nautical traffic, allowing ships to pass over them and between surface buoys. Normal bridges (unless they can be raised and lowered) create long-term height caps for the kinds of sea vessels that can pass below them.

So far, the country has committed $ 25 billion to pursuing this project, stating with an analysis of wind and waves to determine how best to stabilize this new type of subsurface bridge. Initial plans call for a first tunnel to span the 4,300-feet deep, 3,300-feet wide Sognefjord.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

Comments Off

Posted in Creativity

Skywalking Stockholm: Bridged Green-Roof Parks to Span Downtown

23 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

stockholm building connected parks

Fusing height, light, density and greenery with regional vernacular architecture, this ambitious urban Sky Walk plan aims to turn the tops of downtown buildings into a extensive series of connected green-roof parks connected by aerial walkways.

stockholm sky walk

Anders Berensson Architects was commissioned to develop a design that would accommodate Stockholm’s growing population and associated housing needs, but their solution goes above and beyond conventional urban planning, literally and otherwise.

stockholm downtown core paths

Their proposal takes advantage of existing infrastructure and tightly-packed buildings, creating green community spaces essentially out of thin air, all while respecting zoning regulations and building codes dictating heights and usages.

stockholm elevated greenery

The heights of new buildings in the scheme would be tuned to the aspirations of the aerial component, aimed to facilitate the desired connections across streets and between blocks, ultimately creating a long meandering walkway along the city’s riverfront.

stockholm downtown master plan

Views and light orientations are also taken into consideration, with residential units aimed as much as possible with natural daylight in mind.

stockholm urban aerial walkways

The thin profiles of the perforated-metal Sky Walk structures will minimize shading from these components as well.

stockholm vertical green roofs

From the architects: “The design makes larger parts of the area accessible to the public since both courtyards and roof terraces is crossed by public paths. The sky walk on the roof terraces will be one of the longest parks in Stockholm with best view in town. The new city area will host about approximately 5800 apartments, 8000 work places and about 300 shops.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

Comments Off

Posted in Creativity

Silicon Greenery: World’s Largest Green Roof to Span City Blocks

16 Sep

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

largest green roof

Aiming to turn Cupertino into the green center of Silicon Valley, this expansive green roof design rolls over 30 acres of central urban real estate, capping a massive mixed-use redevelopment project. The resulting street-crossing expanse is set to include miles of walking trails, vineyards, orchards, playgrounds and an amphitheater.

silicon vally green roofs

Developers from Sand Hill Property Company assembled the constituent real estate, including a partially abandoned Vallco Shopping Malls, from separate owners.

silicon valley green rooftop

Their proposal to create nearly 1,000 apartments and over a million square feet of office space was developed in part by architect Rafael Viñoly with the assistance of OLIN Landscape Architects.

largest roofs

In the buildings below, a cinema, gym, shopping center and ice rink are slated for construction, revitalizing the downtown area and integrating with outdoor elements above.

silicon valley theater amipheather

“The Hills at Vallco features an unprecedented 30-acre community park and nature preserve, which will not only be the largest community park in Cupertino, but also the largest green roof in the world” according to the developers behind the scheme.

cupertino california silicon valley

The plan has been pitched to the city as a way to secure its position as a hub for technology and innovation in California. The project is currently entering a public review phase. Critics note that feasibility may be an issue, citing the architect’s record with a London skyscraper known for blowing over pedestrians and lighting cars on fire.

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

Comments Off

Posted in Creativity

Ghosts of the Berlin Wall: 8,000 Glowing Orbs Span 10 Miles

31 Oct

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

berlin wall art project

For the 25th anniversary of its fall, this Berlin Wall installation project will illuminate the historical divide between East and West, temporarily recreating the infamous border with balloons on tethers in place of concrete with barbed wire.

light border animated

The work, titled Lichtgrenze by creators Christopher and Marc Bauder, will go live over the weekend of November 9th for just three days, inviting residents and visitors alike to retrace a path that in many places has been obfuscated by time and intentional attempts to bury the past.

light border installation aerial

berlin wall anniversary installation

The biodegradable light-filled balloons will then be released in unison at the end of the weekend, floating away with messages attached by those who choose to contribute.

berlin wall installation art

Every 500 feet along the path of the lights there will be historical footage and imagery of what each area was like when the wall was still intact, leading up to its world-watched destruction in 1989.

berlin wall night lights

While there were walls, mines and no-mans-land zones outside of Berlin as well, there is something particularly powerful about the way the boundary impacted Germany’s capital, slicing it brutally through its center, often cutting streets and even buildings in half.

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

[ WebUrbanist | Archives | Galleries | Privacy | TOS ]

WebUrbanist

Comments Off

Posted in Creativity

Sky Bridges: 14 Aerial Structures that Span Skyscrapers

16 Sep

[ By Steph in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

Skybridges Main

Soaring above the city streets, spanning towering skyscrapers or simply providing links between buildings at lower heights, skybridges often host gardens, observation decks and even swimming pools. More than just indoor bridges, they’re spaces from which to take in views of cities around the world, from Singapore to Copenhagen.

Marina Bay Sands Skypark, Singapore

Skybridges Marina Bay Sands 1

Over 650 feet above the streets, a sky park stretches between the towers of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore, offering one of the world’s most spectacular infinity pools, which seems to pour over into the cityscape. The two-acre skylark also includes a garden, jogging paths, spas and ‘floating’ crystal pavilions. It’s cantilevered 230 feet at one end, twice the length of a Boeing 747 jumbo jet.

Copenhagen Harbor LM Project

Skybridges Copenhagen LM 1

Skybridges Copenhagen LM 2

Designed as a gateway to the city of Copenhagen, Steven Holl’s Harbor LM project features a skybridge between two skyscrapers hovering over the water. The skybridge features prow-like public deck looking out onto the harbor, painted in bright orange and yellow to reflect off the surface of the water at night.

Bahrain World Trade Center

Skybridges Bahrain WTC

Three skybridges studded with wind turbines connect the two towers of the Bahrain World Trade Center, a 50-floor complex soaring 787 feet into the air. The turbines provide 11%-15% of the towers’ total power consumption, and operate 50% of the time on an average day.

Linked Hybrid, Beijing

Skybridges Linked Hybrid

Designed as an ‘open city within a city’ oriented around pedestrians, the Linked Hybrid complex in Beijing by Steven Holl architects is a complex of shops, offices, pubic roof gardens, residential towers, restaurants, schools and more, all connected to green spaces. A multi-functional series of skybridges connects the various structures from the 12th to the 18th floors, offering access to the pools, a fitness room, a cafe, a gallery and an auditorium as well as views of the city. Say the architects, “We hope the public sky-loop and the base-loop will constantly generate random relationships. They will function as social condensers resulting in a special experience of city life to both residents and visitors.”

Velo Towers YIBD

Skybridges Velo Towers 1

Skybridges Velo 2

Two skyscrapers made up of stacked and rotated volumes are connected near the apex by a 30-story-high skybridge in this project in Seoul, Korea by New York-based Asymptote Architecture. The Velo Tower skybridge includes both a protected indoor viewing platform connecting the towers, and an outdoor recreation spot with gardens and fountains.