Uploaded on 2016-05-02 by AlessandraWeiss

**BLUE BRIDGE PUBLIC RECLAMATION INITIATIVE** ![Blue Bridge profile][1] The Johnson St. Bridge. Photo taken September, 2015. The Johnson St. Bridge which is locally known as “Big Blue,” formed part of the Victoria harbour skyline since 1924 and was one of the last remaining bascule bridges designed by Joseph Strauss (the designer of the Golden Gate Bridge). Back in 2009, the idea of its replacement naturally gained some opposition, those in favour of maintaining and refurbishing the old structure due to cost as well as historic value. Despite their efforts, Victoria is currently in the midst of building the new bridge and it has become the largest infrastructure project the city has ever seen, with project costs rising from 60 to 100 million so far. “The Johnson Street Bridge is a very significant heritage landmark whose characteristics illustrate many key themes in the development of Victoria.” “Perhaps the City’s most familiar and enduring example of historic infrastructure...” -Heritage Assessment Report, prepared for the City of Victoria by Delcan, 2009. CONTEXT OF VICTORIA---- ![Rooftop Yates Parkade][2] View of Yates St., with the Johnson St. Bridge in the background @ top left, May 1st, 2016. ![abkhazi garden][3] Abkhazi Gardens, photo taken April 25th, 2013. Victoria is a city that hosts thousands of tourists every year, and is known as a beautiful city of gardens with a historic harbour. Something about Victoria that not all visitors and even locals aren't aware of, is that we're actually a growing and vibrant tech hub as well. "Advanced technology is the leading economic generator, with annual revenues exceeding $1.95 billion. Greater Victoria is also a major tourism destination, spawning an industry that has a regional impact of $1.15 billion." About Victoria, BC. (n.d.). Retrieved May 02, 2016, from https://www.victoriachamber.ca/about_victoria/ Yet the tech industry, despite being the largest economic generator in the city, is still somewhat hidden to the naked eye. Previously limited to the technology park, many emerging tech companies now situate themselves in the storeys above our downtown core. However, most of their work is for national and international markets, so we don't see too many physical forms of evidence that they're here. However, our identity as a tech hub is no longer a secret. It seems the perception of Victoria as the city for the "newly wed and nearly dead" is shifting quickly. This was highlighted in an article written by the Times Colonist in response to the article Vogue magazine recently published about our city: "Vogue’s flattering article titled Why Victoria, British Columbia, Should Be Your Next Weekend Getaway also acknowledged that “an influx of creative, entrepreneurial types” has helped change the shape of a city with “about 900 tech companies, and counting. It also tipped its hat to the abundance of quaint hotels, boutiques, bars, bakeries, restaurants and outdoor opportunities. But not before noting that Victoria once “seemed more like the kind of place you’d visit with your granny than hit up for a girls’ weekend.” “Sometimes you have to confront old perceptions to get people to write about the new reality.” -Paul Nursey, CEO Tourism Victoria Reid, Michael D. "Secret's Out: Victoria No Longer Nearly Dead." Times Colonist. N.p., 8 Apr. 2016. Web. 02 May 2016 Schwartz, Alyssa. "Why Victoria, British Columbia, Should Be Your Next Weekend Getaway." Vogue. N.p., 07 Apr. 2016. Web. 02 May 2016. The Toronto Star, also recently published an article about the "emerging coolness" of our city also par tially attributed to the influx of a younger, creative population. So, as we're shedding this old skin, how can aspects of this shift manifest in our urban environmnent? Can we help re-shape our urban fabric while lining up with Victoria's vision and addressing some of the goals from the Official Community Plan as well as the Art in Public Places Policy? Can we engage participation from citizens across our neighborhoods and municipalities of Greater Victoria? MISSION: BRIDGING -HISTORY-COMMUNITY-TECHNOLOGY To utilize history as a medium to redefine Victoria's evolving identity and highlight the city as tech hub. To create beacons to the old bridge utilizing pieces of its structure: acknowledging the past, showcasing the future. To foster fun & interesting interventions with a strong sense of place and promote urban interactions and exploration through the adaptive re-use of Victoria's most iconic structure: the Johnson St. Bridge Potential Partners/Allies: VIATEC TOURISM VICTORIA HERITAGE BC CRD PLACEMAKING GROUP ART IN PUBLIC SPACES COMMITTEE JOHNSON ST. BRIDGE ORGANIZATION Potential Revenue Streams: GRANTS DEVELOPERS CROWDFUNDING (sml to lrg contributions *visibly seeing a manifestation of this -maybe names engraved?) Precedents A -Bridge RE-USE: 1-San Francisco http://museumca.org/bay-bridge-steel 2-Linz, Austria http://www.dezeen.com/2015/08/18/crowdsourcing-campaign-repurpose- austrian-bridge-danube-river-linz-jovoto/ https://upcycle-the-bridge.jovoto.com/ideas/47711 *Article about repurposing old bridges: http://www.zdnet.com/article/want-an-old-bridge-many-cities-say-yes/ B -Crowdfunded urban projects: 1) Bridge in Rotterdam: http://www.dezeen.com/2015/07/16/luchtsingel-elevated-pathways- bridges-rotterdam-cityscape-zus-architects/ (*Awesome that people can see their names all along the wood of the structure!) 2) Underground park in NY: http://www.dezeen.com/2015/06/24/lowline-launch-kickstarter-campaign- underground-park-new-york/ *Doc on crowdfunding http://www.dezeen.com/2014/06/19/alexandra-lange-opinion-crowdfunding/ What? -Anything from small to larger installations: BENCHES, BIKE RACKS, BUS STOPS, LIGHTING, GATEWAYS, PLAYGROUNDS... -WIFI HOTSPOTS, WAYFINDING, HISTORIC INTERPRETIVE PANELS, INTERACTIVE, KINETIC....______****ANY OTHER IDEAS HERE. -Identify areas that could be revitalized: -Two maps- 1- Identifying potential locations that the City already has plans to change. 2-For people in their own neighborhoods to participate and pin a spot on the map that they think could use. TIMELINE -When? In stages, various levels of public participation would have to occur. 1-Have a presentation/workshop with the organizations/allies that could have supporting arguments and valuable feedback from various perspectives. 2-Online platform -Open up the conversation -create a video telling the story of the bridge. PAST-PRESENT-FUTURE -Launch facebook page- *KEY component in how this is framed and presented, with the support of other allies- seeing as the Johnson St. Bridge replacement already has plenty of opposition and the name is charged for many citizens here. *IF ANYBODY HAS ANY IDEAS PLEASE BE SURE TO SHARE THEM! 3-Continue to inspire people to be thinking about the potential this could have- for example highlighting some of the Placemaking principles about great public spaces: -Support local economy -Enhance tourism -Encourage volunteerism -Improve pedestrian safety -Encourage physical health -Reduce crime -Create positive social interactions -Support a healthier natural environment Also show numerous precedents, for example this article published by the RAIC: "The winning projects range from urban infill to renewed public spaces and playful installations."- See more at: https://www.raic.org/news/projects-nine-cities-receive-national-urban-design-awards#sthash.mTuhKkER.dpuf Show some examples of LOCAL visual-interactive companies and some of the things that they're doing right HERE! http://limbicmedia.ca/ http://tagsecond.com/tag/thinkcubes The Placemaking Network recently had a workshop/ their AGM entitled: LIGHTS! ACTION! PLACEMAKING! http://www.meetup.com/Greater-Victoria-Placemaking-Network/events/229945175/ It's clear that this is part of the conversation here now, but what else can we do? How far could this go? Check out: Vivid Sydney -Festival about Lights, Ideas, Music http://www.vividsydney.com/ In Victoria, we have a festival in the fall called Rifflandia. http://rifflandia.com/ Last year the "ideas" series emerged entitled, "Thinklandia"...could we potentially include a third element as Sydney does...with LIGHT!? 4-Once people feel INSPIRED enough..hold various workshops -YOUNG and OLD and everyone in between. Create WORD MAPS- and later on more specific ideas... HISTORY-FUN-MEMORY-TIME-INTEGRATION-INSTALLATION-MOVEMENT-LIGHTING-FUTURE-SOUND-EXCITING-COLOURFUL-....ETC 5- IDEA from the community + will pair up with someone from TECH sector that can make it interactive + and we'll use the structure of the bridge as HISTORY to tell the stories of our present for our future. 5-Ongoing participation, include the PUBLIC in the conversations and VOTE. Where? Throughout various locations across the city, as a way to literally BRIDGE our COMMUNITIES. Why? It's been proven that when urban design takes into consideration both the young and the old, the overall city experience can drastically improve and be fun for all: including locals and tourists alike. This can be done by incorporating creative wayfinding, playful games and interactions, and in our digital age maybe even apps that could enhance our urban exploration: by telling us about the history of the place that surrounds us, or having a photo recognition and info library of native plants and animals found in Victoria and surrounding area: including edible plants and wildflowers...iT COULD BE ANYTHING! (*IF THERE ARE ANY IDEAS/SUGGESTIONS THEY ARE DEFINITELY WELCOME!) The way we navigate through our cities, whether we choose to move through quickly, or slowly meander and enjoy the view, this can strongly influenced by placemaking. For some reason, as adults someone decided that we had to stop playing. THIS IS NOT TRUE. Dockside Green has been hosting a series of Dockside Discussions in Victoria, and the last panel discussion was about the Tech industry in Victoria. At the end, guests were asked to say something about what they would like to see happen in our city, these are some of the things that they said: "It's hard to find out what's happening in the City." "It would be great to showcase sustainability somehow." I think it's possible to take some of these ideas that people have, as well as many potential others that speak to something that would enhance the fabric of our city, and showcase them in a playful way in order to facilitate our engagement and knowledge as well as promote cultural tourism. How? Through the crucial collaboration between numerous individuals including children, teenagers, mothers, fathers, the elderly, groups representative of our dynamic and inspiring city, including members from our community centers, local and even national organizations, as well as the City of Victoria of course and its surrounding municipalities. *WHAT ARE SOME WAYS TO PROMOTE HEALTHY AND INCLUSIVE COLLABORATIONS FOR PUBLIC SPACE PROJECTS? [1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/1462231423327572.jpg [2]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14622316363232199.jpg [3]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14622318706466528.jpg