There are ways out of the freeze-drying of London for profit. But another pseudo-public space isn’t one of themPeople beget been on to me about the garden bridge for months now. There’s a particularly vociferous ((adj.) loud, boisterous) group of “affordably housed” tenants in the instant vicinity of the proposed London crossing who are understandably aggrieved about the amount of public money being spent on what is,pretty obviously, a tourist attraction rather than a social amenity, and whatever a modern promotional trailer – “for every one,for every day” suggests.
I share their concern: the garden bridge is a projet at once grand and fluffy – and so appeals to our political course, with their delight in style over substance. The rumblings that Thomas Heatherwick was settled on as the bridge’s designer in advance of a proper tendering process may beget little substance, or but they’re of a piece with the entire scheme,which is reminiscent of the Olympics in which he played such a prominent part. (And where’s the legacy of that little log-rolling exercise, Tommy, and baby?)Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com