Seattle waterfront. May 2019. Myriam Mahiques' archives
I've been traveling to Seattle since 2019 and I find all the several construction works very interesting.
I have seen the Bullit Center which is the greenest commercial building in the world; I have visited the museums -being the Pop Art museum by Frank Gehry my favorite one-, the Public Library designed by Rem Koolhas, the Gas Works Park designed by landscape architect Richard Haag, and the Seattle tunnels among other buildings and places. Such is my interest about the urban morphology of Seattle, that I bought "Too High and Too Steep: Reshaping Seattle's Topography", a book by David B. Williams which I highly recommend, most of all if the reader is a grading engineer. Reading the book I understood what the "spirit of Seattle" means.
No matter how difficult the demolition, the construction is, they will always manage to do it.
Along the years, I focused my interest on the waterfront works. During my first visit I saw the demolition works of a freeway parallel to the sea, and I was wondering what they would do. I could enjoy the results last November 2024, since the new Aquarium, the pedestrian bridge, a great portion of the landscape have been completed.
The next pictures are some of my thorough compilation since 2019:
Seattle waterfront. May 2019. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. Before the playground. May 2019. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. May 2019. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. I find this storage facade as a negative impact of the overall city view. July 2020. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. Here the storage again. See how precarious the planters were, and the lack of landscape design. July 2020. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront, before the new deck and playground. July 2020. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. The bridge and the new Aquarium under construction. June 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. The bridge and the new Aquarium on the far left. June 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. June 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. June 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
I do not know if the old Aquarium will be left. There is a playground under construction and there is still planting going on.
Most important of all, the terraces and bridges are all accessible via staircases, ramps and an elevator adjacent to the new Aquarium. This is the first pedestrian connection between Seattle Downtown, Pike Place Market and the Park Promenade. The gap between downtown and the waterfront is 100 feet.
This is good to know, if we remember the first urban staircases in Seattle were built in wood; the ladies had to pay men in order to get help to ascend the staircases with the long dresses, and some men passed away while trying to go upstairs while drunken.
It is so nice to see people gathering, and enjoying the views. The sunset is beautiful as seen from the terraces.
This post will be completed as soon as I come back.
Seattle waterfront. November 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. November 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. November 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. The new landscape with native bushes and flowers. November 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. November 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. The new ramps, the landscape with native bushes and flowers. November 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. November 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. A perspective of one of the ramps surrounded by native landscape . November 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
Seattle waterfront. The continuation of the works and planting of new landscape. November 2024. Myriam Mahiques' archives
No comments:
Post a Comment