Fremont Troll
Concrete troll gripping a real car under a highway bridge, born from a nineteen-ninety public art contest.
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About this audio guide
This guide to the Fremont Troll in Seattle starts at a 1990 public art contest meant to chase homeless encampments from a dead-end patch under the Aurora Bridge, with a design judges almost rejected: a concrete troll crushing a real Volkswagen Beetle in its fist. It follows architecture professor Steve Badanes and his students, whose swipe at development and California transplants ended with a time capsule and a plaster bust of Elvis hidden inside the car, and the break-in that emptied it within months. Look closely at the crushed Beetle's California plates before you look up at the troll's hollow-eyed face.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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