- August 15-23
Presented by:
Visit the Duwamish Crossing website at any time during the Seattle Design Festival!
Team: Matt Wittman, Angela Yang, and Canan Sevim
We all need to cross the Duwamish River, why not new connections that combats climate change?
The West Seattle bridge has failed. After only 36 years of useful life—it will be closed until 2022, and probably forever. Completed in 1984, the concrete high-rise bridge over the Duwamish River suffered from a lack of vision. It was designed only for auto traffic and excluded pedestrians, bicycles, mass transit, and other life that needs to cross.
Movement to and from West Seattle travels across concrete ramps and pavement that have suffocated the native land of the Duwamish. Climate change and Seattle’s identity as a global leader in green infrastructure demand that we build a long-term living future. We need a well-designed and resilient replacement for the bridge.
We propose to replace the West Seattle Bridge with new ecological connectors for a greener future. It can be a living system of green infrastructure, more than just concrete lanes for cars. Duwamish Crossing is a platform to network and imagine design ideas, mapping, studies, and news about ecological alternatives for the West Seattle Bridge.
Connect with the too-often neglected Duwamish River online and in-person, and join us in envisioning the possibilities through our virtual exhibition and self-guided walking tour provided digitally and for print. All will be launched on our website at the start of the Seattle Design Festival, 8/15, and you can find updates and follow our story on our website and Instagram.
Nature can take back the River.
Our experience will be broad so that most abilities are able to engage with our program. All exhibition material will be available on our website and our walking tour will be available to view digitally and print. The walking tour highlights specific points along the Duwamish River that people can visit in person with whichever means is most appropriate/comfortable for them. The tour will also be documented on our Instagram story for those who are unable to visit in person. We will provide all of this information on our website.