Building Bridges…
My title inspiration is from a very engaging project via entrepreneur/photographer Patrick Prothe; and by the six-word bio I designed when creating my online presence and started blogging…”Building Bridges Between People ~ Designing Success”!
YES, a great connection. Patrick’s project has everything to do with bridges… twenty bridges connecting communities of people along the Oregon Coast… an ambitious project of creating architectural statements and connecting people; then and now!
My personal focus is connecting people with people; people with communities, and cross-pollinating the communities themselves, whether in Real Life or online.
Just imagine how interesting it must have been for the previously separate and often diverse enclaves of people along the Oregon coast, to suddenly find themselves connected and easily accessible to each other by one continuous road and twenty bridges of not insignificant architectural merit.
Conde McCullough was Oregon’s legendary bridge engineer/designer from 1919 to the 1940s; responsible for eleven of the bridge designs featured in Patrick’s project. Conde over his entire career is reputed to have designed 600 bridges!
I am very excited about Patrick’s ambitious journey documenting these bridges for an even more exciting exhibit and book.
Of course, I’m a bit partial to the subject, being an avid bridge builder myself, however I am also partial to this classic style of photography. I am getting just a little burnt out by seeing the plethora of ‘over-photo-shopped extravagances’ on the web.☺ IMO, Patrick’s photographs will stand the test of time. The bridge featured both on the cover and below is the Yaquina Bay Bridge in Newport, Oregon.
Recently I wrote a post on ‘Design’ for the 12 MOST community, and in my #11 of things to obsess about when designing your own space, I mentioned telling a story. How fab would it be to tell a “bridge story” with a series of these bridge images…I could visualize them all around my dining room or even my office considering my “bridge building” focus!
This bridge is the Ten Mile Creek Bridge, just south of Yachats and I especially appreciate how Patrick showcases all the bridges in relation to and situated in their environment. When I meet people, especially online, I like to know and see them in context… maybe not in the first instant but as our networking relationship evolves.
Below is the view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge from the South Jetty looking towards the Port of Newport (I love all the different points of view!)
Patrick’s final destination is a gallery exhibition in the fall of 2012. He is also creating a glossy coffee table book (I can’t wait!) plus a short film about the drive down the Oregon coast.
These series of bridges built in the first half of the twentieth Century were a major contribution to and investment in the economic development of the Oregon Coast…connecting the communities, attracting tourists, and creating a fabulous coastal driving experience…which I was lucky to experience in my new Audi R8 not too long ago.
This view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge shows the North Stair Well and how Conde McCullough paid special attention to pedestrian access to his bridges.
Bridges are an investment in the future. Making connections and building a network….. well that’s an investment in the future also!
This is a Kickstarter project and this year I am assigning a good chunk of my Christmas “giving” budget to invest in entrepreneurs who focus on the Arts… If you don’t know Kickstarter and would like to learn more about what Patrick is doing please check it out.
Kickstarter builds bridges between entrepreneurs and investors via an entrepreneurial crowdsourcing system where every investment, however small is appreciated, and contributes to the completion of a project.
Please tell your friends about the Twenty bridges…
Time Magazine once noted that the Yaquina Bay Bridge was one of the most beautiful bridges in the world – and most photographed. Patrick has certainly done it justice.
Thank you Patrick for sharing Twenty Bridges, and for those of you who don’t know, Patrick‘s day job focuses on Marketing and Social Strategy in the commercial construction space. I met him first on twitter @pprothe, and then In Real Life! We had lunch in Portland earlier this year and we continue to network…and build bridges.
This is very definitely MY kind of ART. What about you?
