If architect Thomas Heatherwick has his way, the River Thames will soon have a new plant-filled pedestrian crossing inspired in part by Leonardo DiCaprio.
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London's Garden Bridge —
The Garden Bridge will span the 1,204 foot-wide river and contain 2 million pounds of soil, giving root to 270 trees, as well as innumerable shrubs, bushes, and flowers.
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London's Garden Bridge —
Heatherwick was inspired by the scene in Titanic when DiCaprio took Kate Winslet to the bow of their doomed ship and proclaimed "I'm the king of the world!" So he designed semi-private "balconies" that allow couples to reenact the scene.
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London's Garden Bridge —
"We need to hold up this large weight, complete with worms, rainwater and decomposing leafy mulch, without letting the bridge structure become visually more important than the garden," says Heatherwick.
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London's Garden Bridge —
The project is led by actress Joanna Lumley, star of the cult favorite Absolutely Fabulous. Inspired to commemorate Princess Diana's death, she labored for over a decade establishing a trust to secure financing and political support.
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London's Garden Bridge —
"We will only be using plants which we feel will cope with the special challenges posed by a garden in the middle of a river," says landscape designer Dan Pearson, who also promises that there will be species that thrive in each season.
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London's Garden Bridge —
The concept is conceptually similar to other elevated gardens like New York's High Line or Paris's Promenade plantée, but the technical challenge is ratcheted up given its location over the river and the new construction that's required.
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London's Garden Bridge —
The Garden Bridge is expected to cost $245 million and could be ready by the spring of 2017.
