Iconic Bridge Amsterdam
X-Bridge competition project
The „X Bridge”, as an iconic sign, relates directly to Amsterdam’s coat of arms, the Triple X.
The strong architectural form, clearly distinguishable in the city’s panoramic landscape, by way of its geometry relates to the orthogonal shapes of the neighboring quarters.
The strongly-placed structure of the X Bridge consists of an openwork skeletal truss, which is exposed to pedestrians from the inside, and enveloped by a glassy-white, x-perforated, polycarbon membrane from the outside.
The wide spectrum of the X-Bridge volume-arrangement options, provided by the modularly-formulated relations between stories, achieve their culmination-point in a separate, mobile exhibition element.
This element serves the purpose of a scene which floats through the Amsterdam canals, hosting a variety of cultural events, as well as a mobile public plaza, or a commerce-providing platform during the winter season.
The dialogue-instigation between the modern, spatially-functional solution of the X-Bridge and the existing museum, which dominates the east-side of the canal, can be a starting point for the bridge becoming an icon, not only in a formal, but also psychological sense, registering in the public’s consciousness as a place of interesting and innovative events.
The object contains additional functions. It is an extension of the museum’s exhibition space, in which there is an amphitheater, as a well as a lookout platform from which one has a full panoramic view of the city of Amsterdam.
The bridge, through its dynamic form and size, is visible from a large distance. Viewable from around a building corner, above the roof and tree lines, it becomes a spatial beacon in the city’s skyline.
Amsterdam, as the Venice of the North, must make use of its canals’ potential as a place of public activity, as well as a widely-understood scene of art.
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