Architect Ond?ej Císler and Petr Tej, an architect and a construction engineer, designed a bridge made of black Ultra-High Performance Concrete that explores the limits of lightweightness and subtlety of a pedestrian bridge. Conceived as a portal between the world of the living and the dead, or a numinous object from the Space Odyssey, the bridge also acts a plinth or a spatial context for a Baroque archetypes based sculpture by Jan Hendrych. Take a look at the complete story after the jump.
From the architects: The bridge over the D?etovice stream in Vrapice, near the city of Kladno, is located on a pedestrian trail that leads from the village to the cemetery. It is set in a remarkable natural context that, in a way, compensates for the urbanized public space of the village. The landscape around Vrapice is also geologically very interesting with findings such as fossilized shark teeth. The meadow around the bridge was often flooded and its immediate surrounding is characterized by both systematic human interventions and relative wilderness defined by constant changes due to the floods.
The concept of the bridge bears a higher meaning; it is a magical portal between the world of the living and the dead, or a numinous object from the Space Odyssey. The unique architectural design explores the limits of lightweightness and subtlety of a pedestrian bridge, artistically based on the mesmerizing black and extremely technologically advanced material.
The bridge is made from freeze-resistant ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), grade C110/130, fiber-reinforced. Structural solution of the 10 m span and 0,4 m camber adequately lies in the double-curved geometry of the bridge, stabilizing the construction in both main directions and allowing easy bracing of the bridge. With 1,5 m width in the cross section and 1,4 m3 of material used for building it, the bridge weights approx. 3,5 tons.
RELATED: FIND MORE IMPRESSIVE PROJECTS FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC
During the verification of the structural design and the concrete casting technology, a prototype was built and subjected to load testing. Pigment was added into the concrete mixture, surface patina etched and the key details hand sanded.
Opposite to the bridge is “The Guardian”, a sculpture from the atelier of prof. Jan Hendrych. Among other things, sculptor Hendrych is a leading expert on Baroque sculptures placed in the context of bridges and landscapes and on their plastic modelling. The sculpture is based on the original Baroque archetypes (e.g. John of Nepomuk) and placed in the landscape set-up completing the entire spatial composition of the bridge.
One of the main compositional themes is also the concept of the bridge as a plinth or a spatial context for the sculpture, made of a material analogous to that of the bridge.
General description: Bridge over the D?etovice stream in the village of Vrapice, made of Ultra-High Performance Concrete
Studio: Aoc architects – www.aoc.archi, Klokner Institute at CTU in Prague – www.klok.cvut.cz
Author: Ond?ej Císler – Aoc architects, Petr Tej – Klokner Institute at CTU in Prague
Project location: Kladno – Vrapice, Czech Republic
Project year: 2018
Completion year: 2019
Area: 19,5m2
Cost: ca. 27 000 €
Client: The City of Kladno
Collaborators: Jan Hendrych | author of the sculpture, Ji?í Kolísko | casting technology | www.klok.cvut.cz, KŠ Prefa | bridge manufacture | www.ksprefa.cz
Materials
UHPFRC concrete | structure of bridge
Photos by Martin T?ma and Jakub Skokan / BoysPlayNice
