August 28, 2005 @ 11:02 am
The Bridge
An editorial in the August 29 edition of Inside Tucson Business takes the University of Arizona and the Flandrau Science Center to task for failing to ‘go local’ in the selection of an architect, engineer, or interior designer.
The architect, Rafael Vinoly, is from Uruguay by way of New York; the engineer, Jorge Schlaich, from Stutgart, and the interior designer from New York, …"with offices in London and Beijing, but not in Tucson" the editorial humphs.
In the same issue, writer Philip S. Moore has a nice feature piece on the bridge project with interview material from Flandrau Executive Director, Alexis Faust. Moore reports:
"Vinoly’s company was chosen from 32 architectural firms
that competed for the project, which will serve as
Tucson’s newest tourist attraction and the focus for Rio
Nuevo’s downtown redevelopment plan."
Considering the ITB editorial it would have been interesting to learn if any Tucson firms competed for the project. Moore doesn’t tell us.
"De Ol’ Pooeblo" @ 12:11 PM
I suspect that a good deal of the editorial’s objection is buried in its question, "what is ‘Tucson’ about this proposed landmark?"
The same emotional tone is reflected in a comment last week by Steve Emerine:
City and University of Arizona officials like to
profess their belief in preserving our centuries
old heritage, but they can’t seem to say no to
artistic proposals that have nothing to do
with that heritage.
Now, where there is any of that architectural heritage left to be saved I certainly believe in saving it. Let’s restore our old adobe neighborhoods, and our territorial style neighborhoods, where there is anything left of them; but let’s remember that part of that heritage was a willingness to change.
The chance to save "the Old Pueblo look" was lost in the 60’s, when community re-development enthusiasm marched through our old neighborhoods like Sherman on his way to the sea.
I don’t think we represent ourselves well by yielding to the temptation to turn Rio Nuevo into "faux Tucson" because that’s what we think tourists will like. All we do then, is to turn ourselves into our own theme park.
What I Like @ 12:45 PM
I like the rattlesnake bridge. I’d like it if it never went anywhere. I like the thing in front of the library, I prefer it to a bronze statue of priest on a horse. The clothespins? Well, sure they may be a shade too small for where they are, but to hell with it…I like ‘em. I adore the audacity of the bridge project, it represents the audacity of all of us over the years who pulled up stakes and moved to Tucson.
I want more downtown development so that more of us can live there. I think the Ice House Lofts and Barrio Metallico are sensational…and perfectly consistent with the preservation and restoration of our old adobe neighborhoods.
I want this community to stop trying to squeeze into the "Old Pueblo" coat. Remember it But we’re too big and too modern to fit in it.
