Maribor Pedestrian Bridge, Architect, Images, Architecture, Proposal, Design, News
Maribor Pedestrian Bridge
Maribor Pedestrian Bridge : Slovenian Project design by Family New York, architects
6 Apr 2010
Maribor Bridge
Drava River, Maribor, Slovenia – EPK 2012- Competition European capital of culture-2012.
Design: Family New York, architects
Maribor in Slovenia is preparing to become the European Capital of Culture in 2012. Established along the banks of the Drava River, the city is using this opportunity to develop the riverside into a social and cultural focal point. Central to this is the creation of a new pedestrian bridge that will directly connect the North and South shores at the heart of the city, a task long left unattended by the destruction of Maribor’s original footbridge at the beginning of the 20th Century.
The historic bridge, essential to the settlement of Maribor in the 12th Century, was destroyed after the completion of the much larger Glavni Most bridge in 1912. However, because the Glavni Most lands at points high up on the embankments, the direct connection from shore to shore has been lost and activity along the waterside has faded. A new footbridge is key to Maribor’s development of a vibrant and flourishing riverside
The spontaneity of use
The bridge is designed as a 15m wide surface that can create a variety of experiential condition between people and Drava. The undulation of the bridge surface on one hand provides the structural stability of the bridge and at the same time allows the users to reach the water and engage in variety of spontaneous activities.
From collective joy of watching a rowing competition during Lent festival to a romantic encounter on a narrow walkway down from the ridge, the range of possible interaction of people and water becomes infinite. People’s spontaneous use of this urban surface would turn the bridge to an urban spectacle.
The top surface of the bridge would be covered with wood decking that turns to steps on the accessible areas and morphs into a single sloped surface on the steep conditions. The single surface areas will be protected from public access by a combination of steel tube guardrails. The ridge of the surface is a horizontal pathway that forms a datum for the bridge and connects the two sides of the bridge.
Drava as the reflection of Maribor
As part of the bridge experience would be from underneath, the underside of the bridge is clad with mirror finished copper roofing sheets to both protect the structure of the bridge and reflect the Drava ripples and the colors of historic Maribor clay tile roofs. The image of Drava is the reflection of Maribor and the bridge.
The choice of copper as the material for the underside of the bridge once reflected in Drava would give more presence to this idea. The harmony of copper with the roof clay tiles would tie the reflected image of Lent to the reflected image of Tabor and would seamlessly connect the two sides of the river.
Maribor Bridge Competition Slovenian images / information from Family New York, architects
Location: Maribor, Slovenia, central eastern Europe
Architecture in Slovenia
Slovenia Architecture Designs – chronological list
Slovenian Buildings – Selection
Maribor Art Gallery
Design: Family New York, architects
Maribor Art Gallery
Football Stadium Maribor
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Football Stadium Maribor
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Design: dekleva gregorič architects
photo : Flavio Coddou
bistro EK, Ljubljana
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Design: Enota
photo : Miran Kambič
Wellness Plesnik Logarska Valley
Ljubljana Administration Centre
Design: Ofis Arhitekti
City Municipality Ljubljana
Comments / photos for the Maribor Bridge Competition page welcome