Subtle and unobtrusive cross-channel connections

After a closed architectural competition, DP6 was commissioned to create a design for new bridges in the Zuiderpark in Rotterdam. In the metamorphose that the Zuiderpark underwent, the total surface area of water was substantially extended – not only to make the park more attractive but also to increase the storage capacity of water to accommodate the expected peaks in rainfall. This meant that the existing bridges had to be replaced.

The assignment was to develop a family of bridges that had a recognizable kinship but could be individually attuned to various requirements and situations. There are narrow and wide bridges, bridges with long or short spans, while various kinds of bridgeheads belong to various kinds of banks.

The aim was to make elegant bridges with relatively simple resources. The bridges would not force themselves upon the viewer but, in contrast, would be so unemphatic that they would dissolve into the park landscape, as it were. The bridges that were there formerly also possessed that same quality: solid bridgeheads were connected by a span that was so slender at the middle that, en profil, they seemed to dissolve into the background of the park. It seemed obvious that a reinterpretation of this theme would be ideal for the new bridges.

The system that forms the basis of the bridges is uncomplicated. All the bridges were compiled on the basis of three types of bridgehead and only one type of bridge deck which, with the aid of adjustable shuttering can be prefabricated in various lengths and radii. As mentioned, the choice of the bridgehead depends on the type of bank (which produced an asymmetrical bridge with unequal bridgeheads in one case). One uniform style of fencing was developed; with the four bridges to the ‘play island’ the upper part of the fencing leans outward just a little so that a bench can be attached to the lower part.

Text Olof Koekebakker (from DP6. 10 Years of Architecture)