Sunday 3 November 2013

Future London projects: The first gigantic River Garden bridge worldwide


Planned location of the Garden bridge
How awesome is that! I just listened to the Vanessa Feltz Show (or well, the collection of her latest podcasts) and heard about a probable future London project: A garden bridge next to Temple underground station! Direct link of the city with the Southbank through a pedestrian bridge which at the same time is a beautiful park! An absolutely brilliant idea! Some might say that well, there already is a pedestrian bridge in the neighbourhood (a bridge that I'd rather avoid during windy weather as it tends to swing a tiny bit :D - yes, it is the dear Millenium bridge linking the Globe theatre, Tate Modern and Bankside Gallery on the southern end with St Paul's Cathedral and the City of London), it really cannot be compared, especially due to its wonderful combination of being something very useful and convenient (connecting the two riverbanks and often cramped tourist points) with something so peaceful and yet serene as a park. Definitely something to look forward to in the next few years, of course just in case it all works out. In case they get planning permission, the project could start in 2015 and take about 2 years to complete.

The brilliant inspiration comes from actor Joanna Lumley who was being interviewed on the Vanessa Feltz show and whose initial dream was that the Garden bridge would turn into 'a place with no noise or traffic where the only sounds are birdsong (...) bees buzzing (...) wind in the trees, and below the steady rush of water'. OK, I have to admit that I am getting quite excited and all bubbly inside right now while I am imagining this, I really hope that it will work out and as the horticulturist promises, it will hopefully soon be another natural London source of 'peace, beauty and magic'!

Oh, by the way, just a little bit of information about the technical and gardening architects for those who are interested:


The architect designing it will be Thomas Heatherwick who was responsible for creating the flaming and Olympic cauldron (so maybe the Bridge might be called Heatherwick bridge? Who knows...) and the gardening design expert will be Dan Pearson who has plans to create a 'with-the-season-changing' park with a diverse range of plants and intimate walkways that allows people to relax on their way home from work and in between viewing touristic sights, but also as a platform to actually admire the breathtaking skyline of both banks from the river.

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Bits and Bobs of copyright just to avoid any misunderstandings:

The map was made through a google map print screen plus my fizzly Paint programme.

All other pictures used in this article are from the following online resources:
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/68154000/jpg/_68154584_816_130128_view_3_waterloobridge.jpg
http://www.arup.com/~/media/Images/News/2013_07_July/Heatherwick_bridge_front_900x502.ashx?mh=800&mw=1000
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2013/11/1/1383314058995/uk-first-garden-bridge-th-008.jpg
http://www.cnplus.co.uk/pictures/606x422fitpad[0]/5/7/1/1336571_Garden-bridge-London-Thomas-Heatherwick-Arup---Deck.jpg
http://www.standard.co.uk/incoming/article8917328.ece/ALTERNATES/w620/20THAMESHEATHERWICK1.jpg
http://wonderfulengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/2.-the-Garden-Bridge.jpg


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