From Shrinking Cities comes a post comparing the reuse of the Detroit-Superior Bridge to New York’s High Line: Continue the schedule of temporary events begun with the Bridge Project in fall 2009, but analyse these to decide what uses or combination of uses are likely to work as permanent occupants of the span. One success of the Bridge Project is in 2010, Ingenuity Fest, billed as “Cleveland’s cutting edge festival of arts, music, and technology,” is holding its yearly week-long event the lower level of Veteran’s Memorial Bridge. It is important to remember that the Bridge Project and other Pop-Up City efforts generate “buzz” precisely because they are temporary, so it is vital to understand what will work on a long-term basis. What do you think? Read and comment at Shrinking Cities

Ingenuity Talkback Come hear what we’re planning and be heard about what you’d like to see… If you’ve come to Ingenuity in the past or you’re just starting to get to know us, we’d like to hear more from you. There is a lot of excitement about Ingenuity 2010 with our move to the Veterans Memorial Bridge and to the Fall, but we want ideas from the entire community. When: Tuesday, February 2 @ 6 PM Where: The Nature Center at Shaker Lakes (2600 South Park Boulevard in Shaker Heights) We’ll be presenting slides on success stories from the past and sharing our ideas from the future. If you’re a big fan of Ingenuity, bring a friend. If you’ve never been to the Festival but want to hear more, come along! We’re hoping for a spirit discussion and a chance to meet new friends. Please RSVP by January 31 in

Don’t forget, this Friday is another artist tour of the bridge.  It’s a great way to get to know the space before you make a proposal. We will be conducting artist walkthroughs monthly. All will take place at 1:30PM. Artists can meet James Levin at the Engineers Service Garage on the Superior Viaduct, across from St Malachai Church. Tour Dates all at 1:30 PM: January 22 Feb 19 March 19 April 16 Our call to artist form is up as well.  If you need a hard copy, we’ll be posting a PDF download later this week. See you on the bridge!

Discovery News has a piece up on Doctors Without Borders use of  inflatable hospitals.  These are vital in places like Haiti where infrastructure is so compromised and injuries so severe that a hospital needs to literally appear out of thin air. The article cites a Plain Dealer Infographic on how the hospitals work and highlights the work of Cleveland area company FSI North America. It’s all a reminder that true ingenuity can be fun but it can also save lives. From Discovery News (read the full article here): It’s exactly what it sounds like: a temporary hospital with inflatable components that can be deployed whenever needed. Doctors Without Borders has been employing them for years, including an impressive inflatable nine-tent, 120-bed center in Pakistan following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake there in 2005. The hospital post-and-beam frames can be made from the same fabric in inflatable lifeboats. Nylon interior and exterior

We’ve got nothing against the National Hamburger Festival, but we think we’re tops when it comes to Festivals in the area. Here’s the thing…somehow we were overlooked in the nominations for Best Festival in Cleveland from Metromix! Here’s how you can help us rectify the situation: Go to this link: http://cleveland.metromix.com/events/best-of-award/festival/1701856/content And ‘write-in’ Ingenuity in the comments section. Or vote for the Hamburger festival. We don’t want to sway the democratic process, just keep people informed. But seriously, write-in Ingenuity. Also, if you could include http://www.ingenuitycleveland.com in your comment so much the better. Something along the lines of “I really enjoyed the Hamburger festival, but check out ingenuitycleveland.com. Those folks know how to put on a non-hamburger festival.” That’ll do just fine… Thanks!

Below are some recent incoming links to the Ingenuity site.  Keep ‘em coming! charboneau linked here saying, “If you have not yet heard, Ingenuity—Cleveland’s F …” theodoreferringer linked here saying, “It had spent the last week living under a rock in …” SicklyBug and Cassaendra linked here saying, “The Veterans Memorial Bridge was constructed in th …” Prasti linked here saying, “you know, to tell you the truth, moving to clevela …” theodoreferringer linked here saying, “september 25, and 26th allgosigns, the cleveland u …” modernemama linked here saying, “last week i upped and left on for a couple of fun- …” positivelycleveland linked here saying, “spandex not required (obviously). if you live in c …” Robert Stockham linked here saying, “i have never seen anything like it before. i am ta …” Frank Lewis linked here saying, “the economy is clearly having an impact on summer …” creativeliberty linked