Hasta La Ideas

This apostrophe-shaped bridge in Hull, England, by London architects McDowell+Benedetti features a rotating mechanism so it can swing open to make room for passing boats (+ slideshow).

Scale Lane Bridge spans the river between Hull’s Old Town and the as-yet undeveloped industrial land on the east bank, creating a pedestrian route between the city’s museums and aquarium.

Working alongside engineers Alan Baxter Associates and Qualter Hall, McDowell+Benedetti designed the steel bridge with a slow movement so that pedestrians can continue to step on and off even when the structure is in motion.

The apostrophe shape creates two different routes across the bridge. The first is a gentle slope that stretches along the outer edge, while the second is a stepped pathway that runs along the inside.

A raised spine separates the two routes, creating a seating area overlooking the water as well as a lighting feature that points upwards like the fin of a giant shark.

The centre of rotation is a single-storey drum, with a restaurant inside and a viewing platform on the roof.

“The black steel bridge has a distinctive robust character and curving form, making it a memorable landmark that is unique to Hull and its industrial and maritime heritage,” said the design team.

The underside of the bridge is tapered upwards to allow smaller vessels to pass through without opening the bridge.

An installation by artist Nayan Kulkarni is also included, involving ringing bells and a pulsing light that are activated when the bridge starts to move.

“This has a practical purpose in alerting pedestrians to the imminent opening rotation and it heightens the drama of the ride,” added the designers.

Low-level lighting illuminates the walkways after dark.

McDowell+Benedetti has worked on several bridges in the UK. Others include a 130-metre long S-shaped footbridge in Yorkshire. See more bridges on Dezeen »

Photography is by Timothy Soar.

Here’s some extra information from the architects:

Scale Lane Bridge on River Hull in full swing

An innovative swing bridge over the River Hull has opened to the public, offering pedestrians the unique experience of riding on the bridge as it opens and closes to river traffic, believed to be a world’s first.

The black steel bridge has a distinctive robust character and curving form, making it a memorable landmark that is unique to Hull and its industrial and maritime heritage.

The winning entry in an international 3-stage design competition held in 2005, the bridge has been built to the original concept by the competition team, main contractor and M&E engineers Qualter Hall, architects McDowell+Benedetti and structural engineers Alan Baxter Associates. The scheme includes a new landscaped garden and square designed by landscape architects Grontmij with lighting by Sutton Vane Associates and an integrated public artwork by Nayan Kulkarni.

Located in Kingston upon Hull east of Hull city centre the bridge connects Hull’s Old Town Conservation Area to the undeveloped industrial landscape of the east bank. Designed as the first stage of a wider masterplan it will unlock the potential of the riverside to promote wider regeneration in the areas east of the city centre. Scale Lane Staith on the west bank has been re-landscaped with a series of stepped gardens leading to a new public square at the threshold of the bridge. The bridge provides a walkable route connecting the Museums Quarter on the west bank to Hull’s major attraction The Deep.

The River Hull has a tidal range of almost 7 metres and has exposed mud banks on the west side. The 16 metre diameter drum of the bridge sits snugly into the raised river bed on the west bank and cantilevers 35 metres over the water to the east side. The spine of the bridge arches up and over the river, allowing enough room for smaller boats to pass under without need to operate the bridge, and rotates using an electrical drive mechanism to open the route to river traffic when required.

The bridge’s sweeping form creates two generous pedestrian routes, one gently sloping and a shorter stepped walkway. The roof of the drum provides an upper viewing deck with a seamless steel balustrade, which gives the feeling of being on board a docked ocean liner.

The central structural spine of the bridge includes seating areas, creating a variety of places for people to pause on route to relax and enjoy the riverscape views. The spine rises into a back-lit rooflight which provides a marker for the bridge at night.

When activated the mechanical movement of the bridge is sufficiently slow to allow passengers to safely step onto the bridge from the west bank whilst it is rotating.

Artist Nayan Kulkarni has created a public artwork on the bridge, a sonic landscape in which to enjoy the riverscape. When the bridge opening is activated a new sequence of rhythmic bells is triggered which increases in urgency and combines with a pulsing light developed by lighting consultants Sutton Vane Associates. This has a practical purpose in alerting pedestrians to the imminent opening rotation and it heightens the drama of the ‘ride’.

At night low level fluorescents integrated into the parapet posts light the profile of the bridge and bring colour and sparkle to the blackened industrial riverscape.

Hull City Council is now actively seeking a tenant to occupy the restaurant space in the bridge hub. Once in place Scale Lane Bridge will become a lively animated public place at all times of the day, fulfilling the design team’s intention to create more than just a crossing but a destination in its own right.

At the official opening on 28 June 2013 Councillor Nadine Fudge, Lord Mayor of Hull and Admiral of the Humber, said: “It’s an honour to open this unique footbridge on behalf of the city, which links the Old Town to the east banks of Hull. Our Old Town has wonderful museums and attractions and it’s great that we’re able to add another experience for people to enjoy. Hull’s strong maritime history is echoed in the ships bells ringing as the bridge opens and we should be proud that we are continuing to reflect on our heritage.”

Jacquie Boulton, Area Manager at the Homes and Communities Agency said: “The opening of this bridge gives the city an excellent opportunity to connect the east bank of the river to the city centre creating opportunities for new economic development. It is great that we have been able to work with our partners to create a bridge that is not only useful to local residents and visitors to the city but is also such a fantastic design.”

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McDowell+Benedetti appeared first on Dezeen.

News: a proposal by Rem Koolhaas’ firm OMA for a bridge that could accommodate different types of traffic as well as pedestrians and events has been selected by local authorities in Bordeaux, France, as one of two final competing designs.

The proposed design aims to “rethink the civic function and symbolism of a twenty-first century bridge” by creating a platform traversing the river Garonne that could be used by cars, trams, buses, bicycles and pedestrians.

A wide boulevard with a gentle gradient would make the bridge easy to walk across and allow it to be used to host events.

OMA project leader Clement Blanchet said the studio wanted to “provide the simplest expression – the least technical, least lyrical, an almost primitive structural solution. This simplicity allowed us to create a generous platform for pedestrians and public programs, as well as flexibility in accommodating the future needs of various types of traffic.”

Either OMA or French firm Dietmar Feichtinger will be awarded the project in December this year, with completion scheduled for 2018.

Yesterday, Thomas Heatherwick unveiled a design for a pedestrian bridge housing a garden to span the River Thames in London.

OMA is up against Danish firm BIG in a competition to redevelop the site of a convention centre in Miami.

In a movie filmed in Milan as part of our Dezeen and MINI World Tour, journalist Justin McGuirk described OMA’s Tools for Life collection of furniture as a nostalgic statement about the decline of industry in the city.

See all stories about OMA »
See all stories about bridges »

Images copyright OMA unless otherwise stated.

Here’s some more information from OMA:

OMA leads the final round for Pont Jean-Jacques Bosc international competition in Bordeaux

OMA’s design for a new bridge across the river Garonne in Bordeaux has been selected as one of two final competing projects by the city authorities. OMA’s stripped-down design for the Pont Jean-Jacques Bosc attempts to rethink the civic function and symbolism of a 21st century bridge.

Clement Blanchet, leading the project for OMA with Rem Koolhaas said: “The bridge itself is not the ‘event’ in the city, but a platform that can accommodate all the events of the city. We wanted to provide the simplest expression – the least technical, least lyrical, an almost primitive structural solution. This simplicity allowed us to create a generous platform for pedestrians and public programs, as well as flexibility in accommodating the future needs of various types of traffic.”

Vincent Feltesse, president of Urban Community of Bordeaux made the decision with the deliberation of a jury of 40 people, announcing that the municipality wanted something “bold.”

Beyond traditional fascinations with style and technical performance, OMA tried to design a 21st century bridge that exploits state-of-the-art techniques in order to create a contemporary boulevard. A platform 44 metres wide and 545 metres long is stretched beyond the water on either side, creating a seamless connection with the land. The bridge slopes gently, allowing an easy promenade while still giving necessary clearance for boats underneath. Each type of traffic – cars, RBD (tram/bus), bicycles – has its own lane, and is designed to meet changing vehicular needs. By far the largest strip is devoted to pedestrians.

The bridge is designed to cohere with the adjacent St. John Belcier urban redevelopment project. It also attempts to unify the different conditions of the two banks of the Garonne: from the Right Bank, strictly aligned on a poplar-lined meadow, to the urban landscape of the Left Bank, it aims solve the dual challenge of aura and performance in an environment steeped in history.

A final decision between designs by OMA and Dietmar Feichtinger will be made in December this year, with the bridge scheduled for completion in 2018.

The project is developed in collaboration with engineers WSP, the landscape architect Michel Desvigne, as well as the consultant EGIS and light design agency Lumières Studio.

The post OMA proposes bridge with pedestrian
boulevard for Bordeaux appeared first on Dezeen.

News: the fictional bridges depicted on Euro banknotes have been been transformed into reality at a new housing development near Rotterdam.

Dutch designer Robin Stam was inspired by the seven images of archetypal bridges originally created by Austrian designer Robert Kalina to represent key phases in Europe’s cultural history.

The illustrations on the banknotes show generic examples of architectural styles such as renaissance and baroque rather than real bridges from a particular member state, which could have aroused envy among other countries. “The European Bank didn’t want to use real bridges so I thought it would be funny to claim the bridges and make them real,” Stam told Dezeen.

The local council responsible for constructing a new housing development in Spijkenisse, a suburb of Rotterdam, heard about the idea and approached Stam about using his designs.

“My bridges were slightly more expensive but [the council] saw it as a good promotional opportunity so they allocated some extra budget to produce them,” says Stam.

The bridges are exact copies of those shown on the banknotes, down to the shape, crop and colour.

“I wanted to give the bridges an exaggerated theatrical appearance – like a stage set,” adds Stam, who poured dyed concrete into custom-made wooden moulds to make them.

All seven bridges surrounding the development have been completed and are being used by cyclists and pedestrians. Stam says they have divided opinion among residents: “Some people’s initial impression is that the bridges are ugly but when they find out the story behind them they find it really funny.”

In his recent Opinion column, Sam Jacob talks about the made-up landmarks on Euro notes as he ponders the historic and cultural symbolism of money.

The latest Dezeen stories about bridges include a heated pedestrian bridge in Sweden and Zaha Hadid’s Sheikh Zayed Bridge in Abu Dhabi.

See more bridge designs »
See all our stories about design and money »

Here are some more details from the designer:

On the first of January 2002 new banknotes were introduced in Europe. In addition to windows and gateways, these seven banknotes also depict several bridges. Each bridge has an individual appearance, all of which can be recognised as having originated throughout certain periods in European cultural history: Classical Antiquity, the Roman period, the Gothic period, the Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo, Iron- and glass architecture and lastly contemporary, twentieth century architecture.

Designed by Robert Kalina, the bridges are meant to illustrate the tight collaboration and communication between Europe and the rest of the world in general, but more importantly, amongst the European countries in particular. However, the bridges portrayed in the banknotes are fictional.

They have been designed to prevent one single member state from having a bridge on their banknote opposed to other states not having any depicted in theirs. In other words, “member state neutral” banknotes.

Now wouldn’t it be amazing if these fictional bridges suddenly turn out to actually exist in real life? And wouldn’t it be even more amazing if these bridges were to be built in a new housing project in the former centre of urban development and suburb, Spijkenisse.

The post Fictional bridges on Euro banknotes
constructed in Rotterdam appeared first on Dezeen.

When we last checked in with Leo Villareal one year ago, he had just proposed The Bay Lights, an ambitious project aimed at blanketing San Francisco’s Bay Bridge with 25,000 outward-facing LEDs for a light show of epic proportions. Like many concepts, the idea was almost too fantastical to…

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A looping bridge by three Bosnian product design students has been completed outside the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo (+ slideshow).

Adnan Alagić, Bojan Kanlić and Amila Hrustić won the competition for the design of the bridge five years ago while studying at the Academy of Fine Arts.

Called Festina Lente, which in Latin means “make haste, slowly”, the looping bridge spans 38 metres over the Miljacka river and loops-the-loop in the middle to create a shelter with two seats.

“The basic idea of the bridge is the union of the secular and spiritual,” explain the designers, noting that the academy was formerly a church. ”The loop on the bridge is a symbolic gate,” they add.

The steel bridge is paved with aluminium plates and fitted with benches made of smooth round logs. At night the bridge is lit by LEDs.

We recently featured a temporary bridge held up by enormous helium-filled balloons and a bridge with an arched level for pedestrians and a zig-zagging level for cyclists.

We’ve also previously featured a looping motorway imagined by Dutch architects NL and an elevated pathway that looks like a rollercoaster.

See all our stories about bridges »
See all our stories about infrastructure »

Here’s some more information from the designers:

Festina Lente (lat. hurry slowly), lightweight, agile, adaptable casual contact among all objects and human beings.

The basic idea of the bridge is the union of the secular and spiritual and to establish a balance between left and right side. Crossing the bridge is a unique experience because of its specific layout and the views that we encounter when going through the gate (the closed part of the bridge), preparing us to enter into another dimension and awake spirituality. Technological solutions and the modern design of the bridge become the brand of Sarajevo.

The tender for the construction of a pedestrian bridge was announced in 2007, and five years later the bridge was built. The bridge construction is steel with aluminium trim and a glass fence. The bridge spans 38 metres. The bridge creates a true “genius loci” appropriate to the area in front of the temple as the Academy of Fine Arts. The former church, today the Academy of Fine Arts, was built in the time of the Viennese secession.

Its form is unique, simple and attractive at the same time and because of the unexpectedness triggers a series of associations, establishing a new vision. The loop on the bridge is a symbolic gate – in our traditions, entrances in the cities have always been marked by gates. Line appears on most Secession facilities, among which is the Academy of Fine Arts.

Around the bridge we have different styles of facilities and two benches which are completely different, one covered with grass and another built from stone, which we decided on for visual contrast. On the bridge are two benches in covered sections, so it’s a place of meeting and interacting. White LED lights light the bridge.

Authors: Adnan Alagić, Bojan Kanlić and Amila Hrustić

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Bojan Kanlić and Amila Hrustić appeared first on Dezeen.