A Work of Art You Can Use and Understand

The picture of the Redding Bridge over the Sacramento River that ran July 5 (“A Bridge to the Future in Redding”) should remind everyone that architecture, a practical art, can be exquisitely beautiful. Santiago Calatrava, the Spanish architect who designed this masterpiece, took a truly pedestrian project -- a pedestrian bridge -- supported it with a shining harp of steel cables and brought the considerable forces involved back to Earth in a tower that is a world of structural sculpture. What makes this work especially important is that it is accessible to everyone. You do not need the coaching of a curator or critic to understand it. You can see it, understand it and enjoy it. You can’t say that about very much modern art.

Cornelius Deasy

San Luis Obispo