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 need to minimize the physical, environmental, and visual impact of such a big infrastructure on the area between the two banks of the Arno River it connects—a rich ecosystem that must be preserved.
Following the site's environmental, dimensional, and geological characteristics and the available budget, the bridge is designed as a structural system supported only at its ends. It comprises two parallel trusses connected by a deck placed at their intermediate height, which secures them together and serves as a road. This design reduces the use of concrete, replacing it with steel and other recyclable materials.
Considering the visual impact of this infrastructure, the target is to reduce it through volumetric and chromatic means. The two trusses are covered with aluminum panels forming discontinuous vertical stripes mounted more densely next to the banks and sparse 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.
Regarding mobility, the bridge has a roadway with a single lane for each direction, bike paths between the lanes and the trusses, and pedestrian paths inside the trusses.
