BLUR A BRIDGE
Design competition for a new bridge on the Arno river in Figline Valdarno, including the connections to the existing roads
Program Bridge and connection roads
Team Valerio Franzone, 3C+T Capolei Cavalli A.A.
Client Provincia di Firenze
Collaborators Proges Engineering (structural engineering)
Location Figline Valdarno (Florence), Italy
Length 555 m
Year 2011
Blur A Bridge is shaped by the will to reduce the physical, environmental, and visual impact that such a big infrastructure could have on the surroundings -the area included between the two banks of the Arno river- that is a place with a strong natural identity, a really rich ecosystem that needs to be preserved.
As a consequence, the strategy of the project follows the need to reduce the number of necessary supports -thus to not be too invasive for the area to be preserved- and adopts a structural typology that is appropriate for a span of 200 meters, that considers the available budget and the geological characteristics of the site.
The bridge is conceived as a unique structural element composed of two parallel trusses connected by a deck placed at their intermediate depth, which binds them together and serves as a driveway. This strategy permits reducing the use of concrete and to use steel and other recyclables materials.
Considering the visual impact that such an infrastructure could have, the target is to reduce it the more it is possible through a strategy of volumetric and chromatic blurriness. The two trusses are covered with aluminum panels forming discontinuous vertical stripes mounted more densely next to the banks and thinner at the center of the bridge. At the same time, the color of the panels blurs from the green of the trees next to the banks into the light blue of the sky at the center of the bridge.
In the matter of its mobility, the bridge has a roadway with a single lane for each direction, a bike path between every lane and the trusses, and a pedestrian path inside each truss.
