Submission 5: Metroman - Ivy Tunnel

[khris]

I agree with you, except it's more like 6 months, not 8 months.

 

[MetroMan]

A big difference between Vancouver and places like Toronto and Calgary is that the latter two don't keep leafy plants green for much of the year. I can see a bridge like this working in Vancouver but not Toronto.

(...) what does the bridge look like for eight months of the year?

Well, my stance on that is that the city does indeed make an effort to be beautiful and green in the warmer months and tolerates the lack of plant life for the rest of the year.
With the reasoning that we shouldn't build something like this living bridge, Toronto wouldn't need any parks, wouldn't need trees along the sidewalks and in our public squares, wouldn't need the big push now for green roofs and this whole mega-project of WATERFRONToronto would be a waste.

Of course not. Toronto has seasons. Plant life changes through those seasons. This bridge would be no different. Lush and green and inhabited by birds in the spring and summer, changing colours in the autumn and then in the winter the leaves fall off and you have the structure surrounded by the branches and lightly covered in snow.

There are many places in Toronto where you can observe climbing vines over the seasons. UofT has some nice ones. I've seen them in the winter and they look just interesting in that time of the year adding character to the structure.

 

[smuncky]

lighting can effectively replace greenery making the bridge illuminate. small little lights would look great imo.

 

[MetroMan]

^Good idea. Along King St. W. during the winter, there are these blue lights on all the trees. Looks beautiful, specially with snow on the branches.

 

[interchange42]

what does the bridge look like for eight months of the year?

It would look green for eight* months of the year (if properly irrigated). You mean 'what does the bridge look like for four months of the year?' Just what kind of climate do you think we deal with here?

42

* Okay - 7 months green, 5 months not so green.

 

[MetroMan]

I wish I had CAD knowledge to better compete with the proposals that are getting attention with their fancy 3D integration into real world photos.

Would anybody like to join me in my bid and design this proposal in CAD... or even sketchup?