santiago calatrava: beautiful bridges

there are a few ways to cross a river, but the most visually inspiring has to be the bridge. that it also keeps you dry is an added bonus of course. bridge design has undergone an exciting renaissance in the past ten years with the resultant spans being visually stunning structures that often become emblematic of the community or region they stand in.

santiago calatrava has designed several exquisite spans. calatrava (who is also a sculptor and painter) suggests that the practice of architecture melds all the arts into one. certainly his buildings and bridges would serve as proof that he is correct. early visitors to this blog may recall a couple of images that i took of one of his structures - the interior of bce place in toronto . . .

in my view, it is his bridges though that carry the heart of his statement into practice.

the alamillo bridge in seville, spain is one such structure, spanning the canal de alfonso xiii. begun in 1989 and completed in 1992, the bridge was one of the many improvements made to seville in preparation for expo 1992.
here is the bridge by day . . .
and even more spectacularly by night . . .
the bridge was designed thematically around the “soaring aspirations of the city of seville.” to my eyes it resembles a recumbent harp which makes me wonder if in a high wind there are harmonics created by the passage of the wind over the cables.

the sundial bridge at turtle bay shares a similar aesthetic. a much larger structure than the alamillo bridge, the sundial bridge consists of a 213 m pedestrian bridge topped by a single 66 metre mast that serves as the gnomon of the world’s largest sundial. amazingly, the bridge’s deck is surfaced with translucent structural glass that is illuminated at night. i bet that crossing that bridge at night would be a beautiful never-to-be-forgotten experience. the design of the bridge is really only possible because it is not subject to the terrific stresses brought about by motorized traffic.

the chords bridge at the entrance to jerusalem is designed to solve a traffic congestion problem. that it is strikingly beautiful is an added bonus! set to open sometime in the summer of 2008, the bridge is 360 metres long and boasts a 118 metre high mast that is the tallest structure in jerusalem.

the calatrava bridge in petah tikva is a very similar design to the chords bridge but on a much smaller scale. its beauty is very apparent in these two images . . .