2012: Transforming the Bridge | 12160

Team: Alexander Prusakov

Location: Oakland, California

Overview: FIVE ISLANDS
AN ODYSSEY OF THE SENSES

THE PILGRIMAGE IS A JOURNEY SEEKING A SINGULAR DESTINATION AND EVENT. THE PILGRIM TRAVELS IN ANTICIPATION OF CELEBRATORY CLIMAX. BE THE PATH LONG AND ARDUOUS, IT IS BUT A TEST TO THE PILGRIM, WHO MUST ALWAYS MAINTAIN HIS FOCUS FIXED UPON HIS GOAL. FOR THE PEDESTRIAN, THE DETROIT SUPERIOR BRIDGE IN ITS PRESENT STATE IS SUCH A PATH.

THE ODYSSEY ON THE OTHER HAND IS A TRANSFORMATIVE JOURNEY. ODYSSEUS SEEKS A GOAL, BUT IT IS HIS MISADVENTURES WHICH ARE EPIC. THE ENDING OF HIS JOURNEY IS PLAIN IN COMPARISON TO THE EXTRAORDINARY EVENTS OF ITS WINDING PATH.

THE ACT OF CROSSING THE DETROIT SUPERIOR BRIDGE SHOULD BE AN ODYSSEY, NOT A PILGRIMAGE. TO BE MORE THAN SIMPLY A WELL-SERVICED CONDUIT, THE BRIDGE MUST BECOME A DESTINATION IN ITSELF, OR, AS WE PROJECT, A SERIES OF DESTINATIONS.
COMING INTO THE BRIDGE, ONE ENTERS THE SEA – A PARK AND WINDING BOARDWALK SET ON THE LOWER LEVEL FLANKED BY TREES SUSPENDED FROM ITS BORDERS. TRAVERSING ITS LENGTH, THE TRAVELER COMES ACROSS FIVE ISLANDS – SOUND CHECK, TASTE TEST, … . AMID THE INDUSTRIAL STRUCTURE OF THE BRIDGE AND ITS RUGGED LANDSCAPE, EACH IS A SENSUAL BURST BRINGING TO LIFE A SELF-CONTAINED WORLD. CROSSING THE BRIDGE BECOMES AN ODYSSEY OF THE SENSES.