io9
As we understand more and more about the materials to build suspension bridges, their shapes are going to become more bizarre and seemingly impossible. Architect Santiago Calatrava made this suspension bridge in Jerusalem to resemble the shape of a lyre, a stringed instrument popular during classical antiquity. This oddly-shaped suspension bridge will be completed this month, and stands at the gateway to the city, where it crosses over top of traffic so that pedestrians can cross the crowded roads without danger. It's the only suspension bridge to ever take this kind of shape.
According to Architectural Record:
Its gently curving span is suspended by 66 cables from a tilted 387-foot mast, anchored in concrete, that resembles a bolt of lightning. The mast is set at an angle to the deck of the bridge and it bends roughly halfway up, so the entire mast forms an angle of roughly 150 degrees. Cables are attached at various heights on its tapered top half, creating cross-hatched visual patterns as they seem to swirl out from the mast. At the sharpest bend of the bridge, the slightly concave, boat-shaped deck and the shape of the bend transfer the load to the ends of the bridge, which is 525 feet long; access ramps, clad in stone, add another 656 feet. A walkway on its southern side has glass decking and a glass railing.
Calatrava's Bridge in Jerusalem Incites Controversy [Architectural Record]
Comments
Thats pretty awesome looking. Looks similar to the Milwaukee Art Museum, but I suppose most of his work has a similar feel.
I was kinda hoping it would make music though...
It is a rather misleading title. It's not "built to be a musical instrument" at all.
what happened to our favourite Art/Architecture columnist Lisa? - (i kid ;*)
Anyhoo - Calatrava has some gorgeous/ingenious work throughout the world. Some of his most interesting buildings have 'moving sections' - such as in Australia. Many of the underlying concepts are based upon movement or the structure which could lead(anticipate) movement - such as animal skeletons. He, as far as I understand, is an Engineer and Architect and has his PhD in Structures (related to movement).
There are suspended bridges such as this in many westernized countries.
Several sci-fi episodes feature his work in setting quick-shot overviews (though an example escapes me). Many other architects/engineers have been drawn to this undulating-span on wires type of form. Neat-o.
This seems to be a very graceful design. I remember making a lyre for my fifth grade music class project. Good grief, what was I thinking! It was that Trek episode with Apollo, I think.
Calatrava was picked to design several bridges across a big river project down here in Dallas, but arbitrarily decided that he needed to spend almost twice his budget. Folks in Big D don't react well to things like that, so the project has been held up for years. Most likely we'll end up with planks on posts. Such a shame. He does amazing work.
@aubreyAubrey: Yeah, just like the "brain-hacking" bit yesterday. I know you gotta try and pull in mass theoretical internet money with the headings, but titles like this leave me befuddled by the end. It means I have to go back and read it a second time, and that is a mightily large amount of internet time taken up. I've got flash-tetris to play and media to pirate. Couldn't you say "to resemble a musical instrument?" You know, like the truth? Everything would be solved.
@aubreyAubrey: No, it is built to be a musical instrument.
It's just waiting for our future gigantic overlords to come along and pluck it...
Why don't we get cool architecture in the US anymore?
@Sean Beanland: We do. Everything looks brighter on the other side. You just have to start looking for it, and it's not all just Gehry clusterfuck buildings. Koolhaas' Seattle Public Library? Fantastic. Zaha Hadid's Cincinnati Contemporary Art Center? Stellar. The Rose Center for Earth and Science in New York is pretty cool. The aforementioned Milwaukee Art Museum, helmed by the same guy who did the bridge, is pretty spectacular. I could go on. The US has plenty of amazing architecture, you just gotta look for it.
Also, take a look at the landscape around that bridge, it's not like the Jerusalem landscape is that of an ultra futuristic city. Looks like Florida with a funky bridge in the middle of it.
Greetings
The Tampa Bay Bridge is pretty cool as you pass under it at sunset...
[blogs.move.com]
Burlington, Iowa also has a neat one across the Mississippi.
Like the man says, gotta look for it...
Enjoy the journey
The 'Big Dig' in Boston incorporates a similar bridge on the south side. The esthetic there was to resemble a sail.
So with a picture of that the headline would read, "A Suspension Bridge Built to Be a Boat".
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@Sean Beanland: He was going to build that in New York...
And he has build some cool stuff here in the US...
[en.wikipedia.org]
@aubreyAubrey: Yeah it is. It's specifically built to be a lyre. If you read the link, you'll see Calatrava talking about that.
@lazyeight: And if you headlined an article about the Big Dig, it would say "A Series of Tunnels Built to Leak and Fall Apart and Cost Way Too Much Money."
So this is a suspension bridge for people not cars? How many lives were lost in order to make this a need?
Spider-Bridge
Spider-Bridge
Does whatever a Spider-Bridge does...
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@Annalee Newitz: Hey now... Let's leave Boston out this..
And that bridge is similar to the one in this article.. I actually checked to if it was the same architect...
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Grr... why does it keep doing that.. sometimes if acts like it is going to load the picture but then won't...
Other times is just ignored the picture...
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@DocGratis: Haha. Boston is the only place I've called home other than San Francisco, so I kid because I love.
@Annalee Newitz: Ahh in that case kid away... Bostonians (native or adoptive) tend be protective of outsiders mocking their fair city...
We need a secret hand sign to recognize each other..
"This caa, going express nexta stop havad yaad."
(not that I have ever seen a anything other than green line go express)
@DocGratis: It's all about the red line dude. I always thought of it as the "get from MIT to other places" line.
@DocGratis: As a Granite Stater, I have a lot of experience of being on the receiving end of the 'secret Bostonian hand sign'.
@Annalee Newitz: Us green liners were always envious of the actual subways.. (not to mention that meant you didn't have to deal with those BC kids..)
@lazyeight: Oh yeah, what are you going to do about it? Have alcohol sales on Sunday?
Go live free man... :)
It's bound to have some characteristics of an aeolian harp, due to size and dimension, right? Depending on wind and microclimate, it could produce some lovely sound. Or hell-noise, something.
@gods-n-clods: Just as long as it doesn't do a Tacoma-Narrows Two Step, we're good:
+ Watch video
First, its not a suspension bridge, its a cable-stayed bridge. similar in concept, but not the same thing. The GS Bridge, Verazzano Narrows Bridge, etc. are suspension. Do they look anything like this? Are they concrete? No. Do you guys have anyone close to an engineer on this site?
@AmishJohn: Suspension Bridge. And we have learned much since that bridge.
@lazyeight: The Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston is the widest cable stayed bridge in the world. It has 10 lanes. The longest is/was the one in Denmark to Sweden.
@warlordwrites: Its called the Sunshine Skyway, just like the original. Not the Tampa Bay Bridge. And its cable stayed also. And the gold towers on it make it one of the most beautiful bridges in the world.
@Annalee Newitz: While there have been some issues with the Big Dig contractors being scum bags, as far as the costs, you clearly don't have a clue. Have you actually been on the roads before and after? Do you have any clue as to what caused the problems?
@Sean Beanland: We are more into letting our infrastructure go to hell here.
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