The Crystal Span
In 1963 the Glass Age Development Committee commissioned a design for a replacement bridge at Vauxhall, inspired by the design of the Crystal Palace, to be called the Crystal Span. The Crystal Span was to have been a seven story building supported by two piers in the river, overhanging the river banks at either end. The structure itself would have been enclosed in an air conditioned glass shell. The lowest floor would have contained two three-lane carriageways for vehicles, with a layer of shops and a skating rink in the centre of the upper floors. The southern end of the upper floors was to house a luxury hotel, whilst the northern end was to house the modern art collection of the nearby Tate Gallery, which at this time was suffering from a severe shortage of display space. The roof was to have housed a series of roof gardens, observation platforms and courtyards, surrounding a large open air theatre. The entire structure would have been 970 feet (300 m) long and 127 feet (39 m) wide. Despite much public interest in the proposals, the London County Council was reluctant to pay the estimated £7 million (£109 million as of 2012) construction costs, and the scheme was abandoned.
Read more about this topic: Vauxhall Bridge
Famous quotes containing the words crystal and/or span:
“In a few days I’ll have lived one score and three days in this vale of tears. On I plod—always bored, often drunk, doing no penance for my faults—rather do I become more tolerant of myself from day to day, hardening my crystal heart with blasphemous humor and shunning only toothpicks, pathos, and poverty as being the three unforgivable things in life.”
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940)
“A tree that can fill the span of a man’s arms
Grows from a downy tip;
A terrace nine stories high
Rises from hodfuls of earth;
A journey of a thousand miles
Starts from beneath one’s feet.”
—Lao-Tzu (6th century B.C.)