Venice’s new bridge “The carpet of light” has no access for the disabled but welcomes bird shit and chewing gum
Isn’t it fun to know that all over the world all city councils are filled with absolute, useless wankers?
Take a look at this story, for instance:
“The Mayor of Venice defended a controversial new bridge over the Grand Canal as Italy’s “most important contemporary architectural achievement of recent decades” yesterday despite complaints that it was unnecessary, unsuitable and four times over budget. Critics also noted that it lacked access for the disabled.”
Of course, leave it to the PR department of any proven-to-be-useless council to come up with a brilliant public statement that explains things…
… only managing to add charges of imbecility and/or cynism to the evidence of these councils’ overall incompetence:
“The absence of facilities for the physically handicapped could be traced to the beginning of the project, when planners had assumed the disabled would use the existing ferryboat across the canal. A lift for the disabled would be installed but this would take several months.”
You can almost sympathise with the poor sods at City Hall who had to come with some explanation for this rather glaring oversight. Any explanation, really…
… but this one is rather pathetic.
It is obvious that no-one had given the problem any thought and that this ferryboat spiel is a rather desperate attempt yo conceal this fact. Stil, saying that you thought the disabled might prefer a boat over a bridge truly is a fun proposition.
You know how your average city council is obsessed with health and safety bullshit and loves to put up notices that say things like ‘This balcony is not on the ground floor.’ So, it’s really comical to hear some council spokesnitwit suggest, like captain Blackbeard, that the disabled walk the plank.
Every able-bodied person who’s not really into boating knows that it can be quite iffy, at times, to get on and off boats. Boats are seldom on the same level as the bit of land to which they are tied and they can be as fidgety and unpredictable in their movements as puppies on crack.
So, yes, small canal ferries must be any wheelchair bound’s favourite mode of transport by far…
Bloody imbeciles.
Oh, one last point about this stupid bridge. It is made of steel and glass, and is lovingly known by its few demented fans as the “carpet of light”. It also has glass steps.
Nice touch, right?
Wrong.
Do you know how dirty your average city window gets in a year, if you never clean it? Indeed. Now, take that window that’s just been gathering dust and the occasional bit of bird shit while standing up and take it down to street level and let it lie there for a bit. Not getting any cleaner this way, no?
So, now, as a finishing touch, go and place it where millions of tourists will walk to and fro each year, in a city that’s a sea gulls’ paradise – and come back in a year and see what’s happened to your bloody carpet of light.
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