From Seattle to Shanghai

For the past few weeks we’ve been doing a lot of design and a little less researching as before. But, we’ve gotten some useful tips on successful public spaces happening under the highways. So from Seattle to Shanghai, here they are:

SEATTLE’S I-5 COLONNADE MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK: This mountain bike park houses 1.5 miles of mountain bike training trails. The park was constructed by the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, the Seattle Neighborhoods Matching Fund and many volunteers and private donations.

QUEENSBORO BRIDGE MARKET: in 2000 the bridge market was part of the revitalization of a space under the bridge, which at the turn of the century had been a farmer’s market and later on became the department of transport storage depot and paint shop.

interior at Guastavino’s Restaurant

LOUISVILLE I-6:  The Waterfront Development Corporation in Louisville, KY created a 34 hectare park underneath the elevated Interstate 64. The space was once an abandoned scrap yard full of sand, gravel and a mess of rail lines. Today, it is a great lawn where there are periodic concerts and public events, kite flying, picnicking and sports.

QUEBEC’S 440 AUTOROUTE: Quebec’s autoroute murals look a lot like the Chicano Park murals. The painted columns have very intricate surrealist designs on them. They change the driving experience and almost elevate the highway’s structure to the height of any Egyptian temple.

LONDON’S WESTWAY A40: jewelery shops, soccer fields, stables, tennis courts, a refugee centre and markets sit under the elevated A40 westway in London. There you can find retail, community activities and sports facilities while the underpasses are illuminated in very contemporary and fun ways to make the driving experience different and safer.

SHANGHAI’S PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE AND ILLUMINATED HIGHWAYS: Shanghai’s gigantic and maze-like highway structures are giants among the very densely populated cities. But they have found a way to transfer their big city lights to the highways as a strategy for illumination and safety.

Along with the illumination of their haighways is the pedestrian bridge underneath an elevated highway. The bridge proves to be a very interesting and edgy design solution for the issue of pedestrian crossings over too many highway lanes.

Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance ; Bridgemarket Opens After Restoration ; Sports @ the Westway ; Spacing.ca: Highway Lessons from Shanghai?