A bridge is a civic gesture, a statement about who we are and where we want to go. For the York Bridge, King County brought together public art and engineering to create a structure for crossing the Sammamish River that also expresses the identity of the site.

Art in a bridge project is not just about the object, but it is about the river it crosses, its ecology and the landscape around it. –Cliff Garten

Garten collaborated with project engineers from Entranco, DMJM, and HNTB to achieve a design for the span that symbolically and practically addresses the flow of people and water. He added arcs to the deck at both ends of the bridge to create overlooks where pedestrians can take in the view of the river and Burke-Gilman Trail, protected by an undulating guard railing. These curves continue in a series of aluminum forms along the sides of the bridge, which braid together like the channels of the river before it was straightened by the Army Corps.

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Fascinated by private experiences in public spaces, Garten creates sculpture to shape the exchange between the built environment and the community.