2012: Transforming the Bridge | 12155

Team: Frederick Biehle, Erika hinrichs, Anka Sawicka, Monique Marian

Location: New York, NY

Overview:

The Cleveland flatsline: the beauty of the beast

This proposal converts the midway of the Detroit-Superior bridge into the FLATSLINE, a series of interconnected walkways suspended within the east and west concourses that periodically puncture its colonnaded walls and cantilever out over the river to serve as the optical devices from which it is possible to directly view and celebrate twenty one principal sites in Cleveland’s industrial past and present history.

Fabricated as incremental steel trusses hung from the existing bridge superstructure there is one primary (10’w x 10’h) and two secondary (5’w x 10’h & 6’w x 10’h) interconnecting walkways. The walkways are suspended such that the view out along their lengths is not impeded by the existing concrete barrier rail.

A perforated core-ten metal skin runs the length of the bridge on both the north and south sides. Varying in its degree of porosity, it will serve to re-identify the singular nature of the space while not impeding the actual view to the surrounding landscape. When the walkways puncture the bridges limit, the skin is also broken, making the experience of passing to the outside more dramatic.

At the central span the walkways return to the concourse level and are directed to the existing walkway on the outer edge of the steel bridge.
a new performance space is suspended below the concourse accessed by stairways at either end of the central span.

Five flexibly programmed “rooms” are provided. Two larger venue spaces on the east concourse, two spaces for public restrooms on the east and west concourses respectively, and a nightclub/restaurant in the west catacombs.