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	title of this thread your message I do not think that I am more qualified than anybody else to answer this question but let me share what I know. First of all, as SDR points out there is not such a thing as a 100% technical solution. Even a Petri-dish could have a different shape as effective and objective as the existing ones and even in a simple thing like that we acknowledge the contribution of its inventor and keep calling it Petri, for Koch?s assistant biologist Julius Richard Petri. SDR reminds us of the fact that highway bridges are no exceptions. They carry with them the subjective choices that are inherent to a problem that can be solved in a large variety of ways. As a piece of good engineering the Golden Gate Bridge is not as spectacular as it is a wonder of technology (how to execute what has been engineered or designed) It is also quite exceptional as a work of art. So, why not using it as an example? With its 75 million kilos of steel and 300.000 cubic meters of concrete it sounds to me as a well grounded choice. Nobody questions the fact that it is well engineered but the choice between the original Strauss version, the subsequent Strauss/Moisseiff version and finally the Irving and Gerdrude Morrow version was hardly based on differences in the quality of the engineering. The Morrows introduced considerations like the vertical ribbing on the towers to catch the sunlight in a way that would make them look slimmer. They added considerations like the view of the motorists and spaced the posts of the pedestrian railing in order to increase the open view. One could of course argue that the towers, from a structural point of view could indeed be leaner toward the top but the Morrows changed the towers into lighter constructions toward the top to make the towers more elegant. What makes the almost 2 km long span of the Golden Gate Bridge such an irreducible unity of design is in my view essential to democratic design. Contrary to Santiago Calatrava, who makes of every work an expression of his personal views and preferences, the Golden Gate Bridge, and many highway bridges with it, are expressions of their times. Not of a well identified individual, but of a society that expresses itself through the talents and abilities of one of its members. By being this collective expression, it reflects the standards and ambitions of a large group of people that inevitably identify with it. We can admire Santiago Calatrava?s work but very few of us can identify with it and share in the pride of a common human achievement. The Golden Gate has that. So we do not know it as the Irving and Gertrude Morrow Bridge, but as something else we collectively can understand: The Golden Gate. associated web images (optional) associated web link (optional) your email your password create a forums account \| you forgot your password?