Course: Bridging the Gap. New bridge across the Drammens fjord at Svelvik. Semester/year: Autumn 2009
A bridge transforms the entire urban construct of two places where it connects. Bridging the gap between Svelvik and Verket greatly strengthens regional development of the oslofjord area to work as a network of cities, yet, at the expense of the serenity and beauty of both neighbourhoods. To bridge these two extreme scales strategically will resolve this conflict between regional development and humanistic needs.
At level 45m, vehicles cross at high speed on a rigid truss with efficiency without disturbing the calmness of the local communities of Svelvik and Verket.
At level 20m, a light weight openable pedestrian bridge is suspended to bring people closer to the water and away from vehicles, thereby, enjoying and crossing the fjord in a more humanistic scale.
The seperation allows freedom. The inter-relationship of the upper and lower bridge is close and reveal the two different intrinsic characteristics of two types of crossings – vehicles and pedestrians. Design process went back and forth between the two in order to arrive at an equillibrium form and structure, at the same time, contextualizing into the site. Fusing apart the two is aiming them to work as one and serve the two distinctive intentions well.
The project is envisioned to bridge the contrast between high-speed traffic and the slow trajectory of human movement, and in the end, blend in with the context.
The project won the prize for excellence in transportation architecture at AHO Works autumn 2009.