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Unbuilt Britain

Unbuilt Britain: Episode 3: Edinburgh's Great South Bridge Project

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Edinburgh's Great South Bridge Project

Episode 3

Episode 3: Edinburgh's Great South Bridge Project

BBC Radio 4 Extra - Unbuilt Britain, Edinburgh's Great South Bridge Project

Why did the city fathers of Edinburgh take against Robert Adam's plans for a new street.

Jonathan Glancey discovers why a plan for an elegant, elevated gateway into Edinburgh was rejected. From July 2012.

In the third in the series, architectural writer and historian Jonathan Glancey looks at some of the most fantastic building projects of Britain and finds out why they didn't make it off the drawing board. In Edinburgh, Robert Adam planned a marvellous street which would act as the gateway to the city for visitors from the south. Called 'South Bridge', the project allowed for a street elevated over the hilly approach, with rich decorations and elegant colonnades.

It might have been a wonderful proposal, but there was a price tag attached. Jonathan Glancey finds out more about the reputation of Robert Adam in Edinburgh and the reasons why the city fathers took against the project.

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Jonathan Glancey looks at the great building projects of Britain that never made it

Architectural writer and historian Jonathan Glancey looks at the great building projects of Britain that never made it off the drawing board

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Episode 3: Edinburgh's Great South Bridge Project

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