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Location Description Scottsdale Public Art commissioned and constructed Paolo Soleri’s first bridge. The project, in design for more than 20 years, was completed and dedicated in December 2010. The project represents the culmination of 60 years of Paolo Soleri’s bridge designs. The Soleri Bridge and Plaza incorporate hallmarks of Paolo Soleri’s signature style. The bridge is designed to bring awareness of our human connection to the sun and the natural world. The earth’s rotation each day and the sun’s location with relation to the earth are both keyed to the bridge’s true north axis location and the 80 degree angle of the pylons. It is this symmetry that allows the shaft of light to filter through the 6-inch gap between the pylons to illuminate the red strip and move the shadow along the bridge. Each solar noon, which can vary up to 40 minutes from twelve o’clock noon, light coming through the gap produces a shadow. Depending upon the time of year, the length of the sun’s shadow varies. At each summer solstice, June21st, when the sun is highest in the sky, there is no shadow. At each winter solstice, December 21st, when the sun is lowest in the sky, its shadow is the longest, reaching to the bridge structure. The red strip follows the shadow and perceptually leads the viewer across the bridge. The 130-foot long pedestrian bridge is anchored by two 64-foot pylons and is twenty-seven feet wide on the south side narrowing to eighteen feet on the north. It connects the Scottsdale Waterfront to the south bank of the Arizona Canal linking retail, restaurants, Fashion Square Mall, and Old Town Scottsdale. A 22,000 square foot plaza on the south side of the canal creates a pedestrian-friendly gathering environment with connections from Scottsdale Road to the Waterfront pathways. The public space is pedestrian and bicycle friendly as well as completely ADA accessible. The bridge and plaza provide a destination for passive recreation such as walking and jogging and epitomizes the invention and innovation for which Soleri has been internationally recognized. The plaza also includes a portion of the regional, 141-mile Sun Circle Trail. The earth cast panels that surround the plaza were individually designed by Paolo Soleri and Roger Tomalty. They replicate the slip form and cast wall motif representative of Cosanti and Arcosanti. All the panels were produced at Cosanti, Dr. Soleri’s studio on Doubletree Road in Scottsdale. Each panel weighs approximately 350 pounds. Ten panels frame the southern boundary of the plaza with a larger, eleventh panel framing the north side of the bridge. The Goldwater Bell assembly reflects the artist’s life work in architecture and ecology. Produced at Cosanti entirely by Paolo Soleri, the bell dates from 1969 and was part of the artist’s first U.S. retrospective at the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, DC. The bell once hung in the Goldwater Store in Scottsdale, hence the name. It is encased within the 22-foot pylons near the south edge of the plaza. Scottsdale’s downtown boasts the only bridge in the world designed by Paolo Soleri, one of the Valley’s most important artists and renowned residents.
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