...:: Days of Our Future ::...

San Francisco's Bay Bridge is being redone; a large portion of the bridge will remain unused, but in good shape. What can city planners do with this unique, unused space?

Science fiction writer William Gibson thought about the Bay Bridge in his 1993 novel Virtual Light and local San Francisco architects Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello thought hard about the fate of the Bay Bridge, and hit upon the same idea as Gibson. If you take a close look at the abandoned side of the bridge, that span of the bridge is still very sturdy, and could easily bear the weight of buildings or other structures. Why dismantle and waste it when you could turn it into a unique neighborhood?

Successful bridge neighborhoods have been built in Florence, Italy and in London, England. Why not here in the United States?

If you know where to look, science fictional ideas are becoming architectural reality. In Arena Salix in Germany, supple young willow branches are used to replace metal superstructures in creating a beautiful outdoor pavilion (see photo). In creating this structure, which changes with the seasons like a living tree, the designers were able to bring the work of science fiction writer Jack Vance in to being. In his 1954 novel The Houses of Iszm, Vance wrote about house trees that were grown to order.


Well... it sounds like a cool idea, if it wasn't for those damn earthquakes.

Source livescience.com