[URBAN NOTE] "Controversial Davenport rail bridge ‘wonderful,’ design experts say"
I hope the experts referred to in Tess Kalinowski's Toronto Star article are right.
Residents say a plan to build a three-storey rail bridge north of Bloor St. will cut their Davenport neighbourhood in half. The city favours burying the train tracks in a tunnel and trench.
But Toronto’s Design Review Panel sees the Metrolinx bridge proposal differently.
On Tuesday, several of the panelists - outside architects, landscape and design experts - praised the design, using words such as “simple,” “elegant,” “wonderful” and “excellent” to describe the plan for the 1.5-kilometre, $120-million bridge and the accompanying public spaces beneath it.
“How far we’ve come in 20 years that a bridge can actually be a unifier rather than a barrier,” said Diamond Schmitt Architects’ Michael Leckman, vice-chair of the panel that acts as a design watchdog for Toronto’s public spaces.
He compared the proposal to the ways in which the city is adding parks, paths, lighting, soundscapes and art to the space beneath the Gardiner Expressway.
Residents say a plan to build a three-storey rail bridge north of Bloor St. will cut their Davenport neighbourhood in half. The city favours burying the train tracks in a tunnel and trench.
But Toronto’s Design Review Panel sees the Metrolinx bridge proposal differently.
On Tuesday, several of the panelists - outside architects, landscape and design experts - praised the design, using words such as “simple,” “elegant,” “wonderful” and “excellent” to describe the plan for the 1.5-kilometre, $120-million bridge and the accompanying public spaces beneath it.
“How far we’ve come in 20 years that a bridge can actually be a unifier rather than a barrier,” said Diamond Schmitt Architects’ Michael Leckman, vice-chair of the panel that acts as a design watchdog for Toronto’s public spaces.
He compared the proposal to the ways in which the city is adding parks, paths, lighting, soundscapes and art to the space beneath the Gardiner Expressway.