Wednesday 29th February 2012, saw the climax of brp’s design of the [AMSTERDAM] Iconic Pedestrian Bridge, as the team submitted their entry for the AC-CA's international design competition.
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| brp architects submission for [AMSTERDAM] iconic bridge design competition |
The accumulation of several months of hard work has resulted in the “Effigy of Movement and Tension”, a functional art that takes its impetus from the ideas of Amsterdam’s artists. The end product is a source of pride for the team and the office as a whole.
The proposal creates a living architecture that:
- Makes a statement at the same time as being sympathetic to its context and surrounding massing.
- Responds to its environment and users on every scale, down to the collective consciousness of the city.
- Drives for balance, which is best expressed in the proposal’s ability to represent both mass and fluidity.
The proposal can be seen in simplistic terms as the muscular tissue of the city and the paths of movements, or to simplify it further a leg and the gears of a bicycle.
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| Muscle and gears illustrating the design concept |
The design consists of four main elements:
- The bridge contained within a gyrating spiral
- Muscles
- New public space “The Gallery” to the east bank
- “The Park” on the West bank, a collection of public and semi-private gardens, a balancing element to the opposing bank
Every element of the design keys into the fundamental ideas, from the lighting to the materials and even the routes created by the proposal.
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| Physical model showing concept development |
The materials were chosen for their sustainability credentials, one of the best examples of this is the Nano Vent-Skin with its use of organic PVs to capture sunlight and micro-turbines to capture wind.
The team employed both standard and more abstract methods to assist with the analysis of the site. This included the deconstruction and reconstruction of the site based on the following ideas:
- Spirit of the place
- Twisted axes
- Vitality & motion of a city
- Living cities
- Non-representational expression of form
- Man and his relationship with place
- Physical, psychological & visual dynamic flows and tensions of the city
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| Concept by innovation - capture of movement with video feedback loops |
From the beginning there was a conscious decision to avoid an over stylistic response to the [AMSTERDAM] iconic pedestrian bridge brief. Our main aim was to produce and submit a well thought out conclusion.
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| Breakdown sketch of tensions and flows of Amsterdam |
For more information please download and read our submission sheet.
The project has provided many advantages within our group and company, including:
- Identification and honing of the skills sets
- Teamwork
- Highlighted the possibility and restrictions of the design of organic and fluid models
- Turning the conceptualism of paper ideas into the grandeur of a finished proposal
Due to the success of this first venture into foreign grounds with the AC-CA [AMSTERDAM] iconic pedestrian bridge competition the team at brp architects have decided to continue their design competition challenges with the next project taking place in the Summer 2012.
Much praise must go to the team - Michael Erwin, Michael Walkling, James Garner & Simon Bird for their diligence and achievement. As well as a big thanks to the directors for their trust and support of this project.
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| The [AMSTERDAM] iconic bridge design team at work |
Please click here to download our full size "Effigy of Movement and Tension" design proposal sheet.
Please click here to view our pre-submission article for the [AMSTERDAM] iconic pedestrian bridge competition.
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Labels: amsterdam, architects, design competition, milestone
