The anthroposphere, the technosphere, the Matrix. How do we navigate the world we have built? The Scots are rebuilding Dundee, correcting some missteps of the past, but surely create entirely unforeseen problems for the future, just as automobiles alleviated so many challenges of the horse-drawn past yet created a new class of wicked problems to solve.
A failed iron railway bridge and its still-used replacement define the approach to the city.
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| Dundee Railway Bridge seen from Fife with pylons from failed first bridge. |
The bridge was built in the age of Jute, when the waterfront looked like this photo from the Dundee Library Archives.
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| Dundee Harbour and Docks - Ref: WC0961 |
The vision for Dundee's future follows the postindustrial rebuilding of Glasgow through the later twentieth century and Bilbao, Spain's revitalization at the dawn of the twenty-first.
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| Revitalized Clyde waterfront in Glasgow |
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| Guggenheim Museum, centerpiece of Bilbao's rebirth |
Dundee's future looks like this artist's rendering of the planned Victoria and Albert Design Museum, scheduled to open in 2016. It is a new chapter for the city, and a new vision for the future that captures Dundee's new status at the center of the British Gaming and Design industries as well as the research and development focus at its two Universities, Medical School, and agricultural research center.
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| Kengo Kuma's winning design for the V&A on the Dundee waterfront |
However, for the foreseeable future, Dundee's waterfront is a bit of a jumble as the old is ushered through the door and the new is being built. It is hoped that Dundee will become a destination for tourists, a welcoming announcement of the city's present and bright future and that the waterfront becomes a point of pride for its residents. Short term inconvenience will be replaced by world-class amenities and attractions.
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| But you don't want to see the sausage being made |
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