Old gives way to new – this is especially true for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which has undergone numerous structural modifications over the years. One of such recent expansion projects requires the east section of this exalted landmark to be demolished, with the steel and concrete scraps expected to be transported to faraway China.
Now, this surely amounts to wastage of materials in a world where large scale building projects get regularly stalled due to unavailability of resources. Fortunately, Bay Area resident David Grieshaber also believes so, and he has embarked on a bold endeavor use these scraps for a new housing project.
We have used the term ‘bold’ with all its implications. The sustainable house that our designer has envisaged would actually take the place of the long-envisioned ‘Bay Bridge House’. In fact, he has devised a plan where his upcycled house design (built from the bridge parts) would be rented out via San Francisco’s resident rental service AirBNB. The proceeds from these rents would ‘symbiotically’ fund an on-site museum dedicated to the bridge.
The predicament to this entire scheme is pretty obvious – the Bay Bridge House project clients have already made their decision to go with the plan of the Hanging House, a different design proposal contrived by a team at The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and Architecture. Consequently, Grieshaber has to contest this bureaucratic decision to give shape to his personal dream.
Of course, everything is not depended on the poetic scope of a lone man fighting against the establishment. According to sources, the area required for a project of such imposing scale would touch the whopping 10,000 sq ft figure. Moreover, the large site also needs to have a strategically scenic view of the expansive Bay Bridge.
Via: SmartPlanet
