The designer behind the London 2012 Olympic Cauldron, Thomas Heatherwick, is planning a £60 million pedestrian garden bridge across the River Thames. Commissioned by Transport for London, the idea is to connect north and south London (it will sit between two existing bridges) with a garden of grasses, trees, wild flowers, and plants, unique to London's natural riverside habitat, according to The Telegraph.
The design has been endorsed by Joanna Lumley, a local advocate, who told The Evening Standard: "This garden will be sensational in every way: a place with no noise or traffic where the only sounds will be birdsong and bees buzzing and the wind in the trees, and below the steady rush of water. It will be the slowest way to cross the river, as people will dawdle and lean on parapets and stare at the great cityscapes all around; but it will also be a safe and swift way for the weary commuter to make his way back over the Thames...I believe it will bring to Londoners and visitors alike peace and beauty and magic."
Inhabitat notes that while plans have yet to be finalized, the privately funded project could be completed as soon as 2016.
In the same vein of creative river crossings in place of strictly utilitarian structures, a French architecture firm has proposed a trampoline bridge located near the existing Pont de Bir-Hakeim. Check it out here.
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