Hello all:
I received the following email (see below) from a
friend of mine who is a reporter for Arizona Highways magazine.
Evidently, the artist, Pablo Soleri, has designed a sundial bridge for
Scottsdale Arizona. This is the first news about it that I have
heard. Tomorrow, I'm going to investigate it further and I'll try to get
a drawing or artist rendering of it if possible.
Here is what she sent me:
PAOLO SOLERI-DESIGNED BRIDGE TO BE BUILT IN
SCOTTSDALE
Well known architect, artist and ceramicist
Paolo Soleri has designed at least 60 bridges during his lifetime
including one called “The Beast,” which received international recognition.
Now at the age of 86, this Scottsdale resident will see his first bridge being
built as part of the Scottsdale Waterfront project, a $250 million, 11-acre
residential, retail and office development along the northern banks of the
Arizona Canal in downtown Scottsdale. The $2.5 million Sundial Bridge
will cross over the Canal and establish a critical north-sound connection
linking Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall and the Waterfront District to the Main
Street District. The 100-foot long bridge will be 20 feet wide on the south
side of the canal and narrow to 15 feet on the north side. It will have two,
60-foot high cylinders on the south side of the canal that will cast shadows
on the bridge and reflect movements of the sun including summer and winter
solstices as well as spring and fall equinoxes. Construction of the bridge is
expected to begin in February 2006. Soleri is a former student of Frank Lloyd
Wright’s at Taliesin West. He splits his time between Cosanti, an Arizona
Historic site in Scottsdale that is a unique complex of desert-appropriate,
experimental, concrete structures he designed and constructed; and Arcosanti,
a prototype arcology located in Cordes Junction in central Arizona.
For media information, contact Mary Hoadley at (480)
206-8228.
