Architects Petre Tej and Marek Clean collaborated with engineer Jan Mourek to create this minimalist bridge throughout the River Vltava in Prague, which is meant to resemble marble.
Spanning 300 metres, the concrete bridge for pedestrians and cyclists connects the banks of Prague’s Holešovice and Karlín districts, giving it the nickname HolKa.
At its western finish, Tej, Clean and Mourek additionally created a ramp that results in Štvanice, a small island that’s dwelling to a park and sports activities areas.
“Holešovice and Karlín are two utterly totally different elements of the town,” Petr Tej advised Dezeen.
“Karlín is a brand new creating residential and administrative centre, in distinction to Holešovice, an space with a lot of providers, small retailers and younger galleries,” he defined.
“The park on Štvanice island makes city wilderness accessible to each districts.”
The slim and minimalist profile of the Štvanice Footbridge is shaped of a steady beam of white concrete with an H-shaped profile, chosen to evoke a white marble sculpture.
Its design additionally attracts on different low-lying bridges throughout the capital of the Czech Republic, that are designed to restrict the disruption to views of the town.
“The silhouette of the bridge reacts to the Prague skyline particularly by the truth that its construction just isn’t excessive, with no pylons and tie rods that might disturb views of the town,” stated Tej.
“All Prague bridges are buildings with a decrease construction, and the selection of full parapet beams responds to parapets on most Prague bridges,” he defined.
“The character of the floor ought to evoke white marble – the bridge ought to act as a big sculpture within the metropolis, a white, minimalist line,” added Tej.
A collection of straightforward rectilinear columns assist Štvanice Footbridge from under, fitted with a hydraulic system that permits all the walkway to be raised within the occasion of maximum flooding.
Fluted metallic handrails run alongside both aspect of the walkway, completed at their ends with quite a lot of bronze animal sculptures by artist Aleš Hvízdal that reference the historical past of the realm.
These are accompanied by a sculpture referred to as The River by Jan Hendrych, which sits on the foot of the ramp on Štvanice.
“The animal motifs are literally a sort of monument to the animals that suffered on totally different sides of the bridge,” defined Tej.
“There was a cavalry regiment on the Karlín aspect, therefore the horses, hare hunts had been held on Štvanice island, therefore the hares, and the market space in Holešovice was initially used as a slaughterhouse, therefore the bulls,” he continued.
Different bridges not too long ago featured on Dezeen embody the Jiangxi River Bridge by Zaha Hadid Architects, which options sculptural metal arches, and a concrete bridge throughout the Aare River in Switzerland by Christ and Gantenbein.
The images is by Alex Shoots Buildings.
