With the growth of World Cities in the 1990s, the contemporary notion of the Urban Gathering was born. Its essential characteristic is the creation of a specific urban sense of time through a scheduled series of varied ephemeral events. Paris has chosen the Seine River to anchor its warm-weather leisure projects, like Paris Plage, where stretches of heavily-trafficked riverside arteries are transformed into beaches of sand and palm trees.Our project allows us to locate an architectural reflection within the realms of urban transformation and enjoyment.It appears to us that Paris has the bridges and passages necessary for the flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic across its waterways. Our intention is to invite its visitors and inhabitants to engage on a newer and more playful path across this same water. We propose a distinctive urban feature: Bridge Bounce, an inflatable bridge equipped with giant trampolines, dedicated to the joyful release from gravity as one bounces above the river. Installed near the Bir-Hakeim Bridge, Brigde Bounce is formed of inflatable modules, like giant life-preservers, 30 meters in diameter. In the central part of each ring, a trampoline mesh is stretched. The floating buoys, fabricated in PVC membrane, are attached together by cord to form a stable and self-supporting ensemble. Each module under tension - filled with 3700 cubic meters of air - develops in space with an arch-like form. Designed entirely of light materials - PVC membrane, trampoline mesh, air - our project crosses the Seine at a specific point; it can of course adapt to larger or smaller dimensions at other sites.Bridge Bounce allows every visitor a novel view of Paris from his or her own unique spatial position: upright and leaping, upside down and tumbling, gliding above like a circus performer.
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