Concept

A wearable study of lines, design, and dimension inspired by the modern architecture of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge (Boston, MA). The cable suspension framework was rendered to its base unit line segments, which were then manipulated to create the illusion of folds, depth, and dimensionality. The repurposed lines echo the minimal outline of the Zakim Bridge and reemerge as a new garment outline imposed on the garment. The tuxedo is the ultimate iconic symbol of formal wear. The tuxedo and the Zakim Bridge share an elegant and modern skeleton. Ironically, the two are tied together in an odd twist of fate.

Photo Courtesy Boston Globe

The Zakim Bridge is a clean, contemporary monument outstretched, cutting the view of the cityscape; a city rich with American Revolutionary war texture and history. The Zakim Bridge named after late civil rights activist Leonard Zakim also commemorates the 1,500 revolutionaries who fought on nearby Bunker Hill during the as part of the Siege of Boston during the American Revolutionary War (1775) by none other than the British. Coincidentally, the tuxedo was also a British invention dating back to 1860 when one of Savile RowÕs founders Henry Poole & Co. tailored a coat for the then Prince of Wales.

Origin of design elements.
The Line. A straight line is a deceptively simple expression of length containing an infinite number of points.

←----------------------→

The line distilled in algebraic short-hand is at best manÕs attempt to articulate a mathematical truth stretched, infinite, and elegant in a ÔdiscreteÕ function.

y=mx+b

A line is minimal and powerful. If a straight line in one-dimension has no thickness, how could it demonstrate any strength, tension yes, but power? Somewhere between the reality and the metaphor therein lies the paradox.

The Bridge. Boston is a town with a rich history that is reflected in the architecture from classic to modern. The Freedom Trail, a two and half mile red-brick trail connects 16 nationally historic sites that played a part in the Revolution. Across the Charles River, institutions of academic and research excellence continue to make historic contributions. Both MIT and Harvard form an academic trail that have given Boston and the world modern inventions like the first computer (1928) by Dr. Vannevar Bush (MIT), a non-electronic Òdifferential analyzerÓ and later Howard Aiken of Harvard developed the first automatic digital computer in 1944.

Governor Paul Celluci lobbied to name the bridge after Lenonard Zakim, a social justice activist who served as the Executive Director of the Anti-Defamation League in New England. There was local resistance to the naming of the bridge after Zakim. Residents and politicians felt the bridge should honor the 1,500 revolutionaries who fought on nearby Bunker Hill.

Photo Courtesy Boston Globe

Bridge construction and Leonard Zakim.

Battle of Bunker Hill

Swiss architect Christian Menn was responsible for the design. The bridge cost $105million to make and is part of the Big Dig project, the largest US highway construction initiative. The bridge is 183 feet wide and nearly a quarter of a mile long and with no support columns in the Charles River. The bridge can withstand winds up to 400 mph. Motorists moving at 55 mph will take 20 seconds to travel the length of the bridge. The bridge opened in 2003.