For the better part of the last 75 years, Seattle’s Alaska Way Viaduct has dominated Seattle’s Central Waterfront. Now scheduled for demolition, Seattle will, as apparently planned, simply clearcut the viaduct form the waterfront in as attempted exorcism from the city’s living memory. Or, we can selectively retain portions of the viaduct as urban sculptural artifacts, as ready-made lay-relics of the fading industrial revolution.
One of these ready-mades stands waiting at the foot of University Street where a 3” gap separates adjoining 200-foot long roadway segments. By carefully the viaduct north and south of the four gap-abutting columns, a simple double arch is created.
The “l’Arc d’University Street” contains enough memory for the city to remember how it had turned its back on Elliott Bay as well as the magnitude of the decision taken to remove the hulking beast.
For the better part of the last 75 years, Seattle’s Alaska Way Viaduct has dominated Seattle’s Central Waterfront. Now scheduled for demolition, Seattle will, as apparently planned, simply clearcut the viaduct form the waterfront in as attempted exorcism from the city’s living memory. Or, we can selectively retain portions of the viaduct as urban sculptural artifacts, as ready-made lay-relics of the fading industrial revolution.
One of these ready-mades stands waiting at the foot of University Street where a 3” gap separates adjoining 200-foot long roadway segments. By carefully the viaduct north and south of the four gap-abutting columns, a simple double arch is created.
The “l’Arc d’University Street” contains enough memory for the city to remember how it had turned its back on Elliott Bay as well as the magnitude of the decision taken to remove the hulking beast.