Pedro e Inês bridge
The Pedro e Inês bridge is a footbridge opened in 2007 in the town of Coimbra in Portugal. It is designed by Cecil Balmond and was done with Portuguese-based civil engineer, António Adão da Fonseca.
Spanning the Rio Mondego, the 600 ft structure marks the city's first footbridge and has become locally known as the "bridge that doesn't meet."
The form pushes the limits of structural dynamics. Partly inspired by skipping stones, ”,[1] the design is created from two cantilevered walkways, joining in the middle to form a viewing platform. ”[2] Each walkway is responsible for supporting the other - the two halves are displaced, giving the visual effect of a bridge that does not meet. The bridge, "appears at first glimpse to be impossible," so states Wallpaper magazine. The balustrade is made from a clear, fractal pattern crafted in coloured blue, pink, green and yellow glass. "[3]
The bridge is called Pedro E Ines in reference to one of Portugal's greatest love stories."[4] Pedro, the Crown Prince of Portugal in fourteenth century was wed to Queen Constance of Castile. He fell in love with the Queen¹s lady-in-waiting, Ines de Castro. The lovers had a forbidden relationship that bore four illegitimate children. King Afonso IV wanted to stop the affair and sent three assassins in 1355 to murder Ines. Like the bridge's two halves that never meet, these star-crossed lovers were fated to never be together.
The bridge was designed by structural engineering firm ARUP.
References
External links
- Business Publications
- New York Times
- Arup journal
Coordinates: 40°12′4″N 8°25′38″W / 40.20111°N 8.42722°W