The Globe and Mail

In the spring of 2003, the City of Toronto completed another segment of its annual maintenance regime for the Gardiner Expressway. This portion of the eight-kilometre-long elevated structure, between Jarvis and York Streets, is an anomalous stretch of pure concrete construction, arching with angular origami-like columns up and over Lake Shore Boulevard. With relatively little effort, its simple sculptural elegance suddenly became apparent. Driving through the arches early in the morning with the easterly sunlight illuminating column rows, it became possible to embrace the space created by the expressway as a welcome element in the city. In contrast, the balance of the Gardiner is somewhat moribund - combining concrete columns with exposed steel rafters that are painted an unfortunate green. It is fascinating to conjure the confluence of design aspiration and bureaucratic culture in the 1950s that permitted that inspired segment to see the light of day, for it is truly artful in the manner that bridge design can occasionally be. Could it be that the expressway could become a great urban space - both in its form and its functional demonstration of a modernist ideal that is even more relevant today?