SAN CRISTOFORO PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE
COMPETITION ENTRY FOR PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE OVER THE NAVIGLIO GRANDE IN MILAN, ITALY
The proposed bridge is light, slender reaching toward the two parts of the city with “cantilevered belverdere(s)” that transform the mere going through experience of a raised walkway in a places for being.
The overall bridge is divided in two single truss sections perpendicular to the railroad and the Naviglio, connected with a strut supported platfoorm that becomes a sort of “city portal” for the people arriving in San Cristoforo from the subway station.
The single trusses are simple, sharp, clear, iconic and minimal architectural marks flying over the landscape piercing the greenery of the park and the urban fabric on the horizon. By contrast, the spiral ramps and the stairs coming down to the ground are organically integrated in the vegetation spiralling through the trees and minimizing the interference with the built environment.
The WHITE color chosen for the steel as a reference to the aesthetic of naval architecture as a dialogue with the canal / river. The “cantilevered belvedere(s)” can recall the bow of a ship.
The solution of the single central truss and the thin girder platform create minimal artefact with a strong contemporary architectural identity. Also this solution relates to the tradition of the old boxed truss bridges on the Naviglio, full of memories and characteristic of this industrial part of town.
Thanks to its character, the bridge is now a site, a place; not just a connection.
The long cantilevers (18.60 M) are also structurally extremely important. They generate a negative moment that contributes to the efficency of the truss for the large span. The sought and found proportion that solves the structural and structural rhythm, is the golden section.
The architecture and the structure of the bridge is “felt and lived” by the passerby. The truss defines on either side the path for bikes and pedestrians. People seat around it at the belvedere(s).... it is a new experience. The floor of the platform is GREEN; an optimistic and joyful color; unique for Milan.
The bridge is illuminated with a continous linear led fixture integrated in the upper chord that illuminates the vertical and diagonal braces. There is also a led strip in the handrail all along: the simple steel rod balaustade becomes a luminous ribbon in the dark.
The thin tapered walkway platform and the upper cord stay in the dark, and the structure seams more abstract and iconic in the milanese night.
The overall bridge is divided in two single truss sections perpendicular to the railroad and the Naviglio, connected with a strut supported platfoorm that becomes a sort of “city portal” for the people arriving in San Cristoforo from the subway station.
The single trusses are simple, sharp, clear, iconic and minimal architectural marks flying over the landscape piercing the greenery of the park and the urban fabric on the horizon. By contrast, the spiral ramps and the stairs coming down to the ground are organically integrated in the vegetation spiralling through the trees and minimizing the interference with the built environment.
The WHITE color chosen for the steel as a reference to the aesthetic of naval architecture as a dialogue with the canal / river. The “cantilevered belvedere(s)” can recall the bow of a ship.
The solution of the single central truss and the thin girder platform create minimal artefact with a strong contemporary architectural identity. Also this solution relates to the tradition of the old boxed truss bridges on the Naviglio, full of memories and characteristic of this industrial part of town.
Thanks to its character, the bridge is now a site, a place; not just a connection.
The long cantilevers (18.60 M) are also structurally extremely important. They generate a negative moment that contributes to the efficency of the truss for the large span. The sought and found proportion that solves the structural and structural rhythm, is the golden section.
The architecture and the structure of the bridge is “felt and lived” by the passerby. The truss defines on either side the path for bikes and pedestrians. People seat around it at the belvedere(s).... it is a new experience. The floor of the platform is GREEN; an optimistic and joyful color; unique for Milan.
The bridge is illuminated with a continous linear led fixture integrated in the upper chord that illuminates the vertical and diagonal braces. There is also a led strip in the handrail all along: the simple steel rod balaustade becomes a luminous ribbon in the dark.
The thin tapered walkway platform and the upper cord stay in the dark, and the structure seams more abstract and iconic in the milanese night.
