La ciudad canadiense de Calgary ha desarrollado una nueva pasarela peatonal de 24.5 millones de dólares, diseñada por el arquitecto Santiago Calatrava. La estructura tubular blanca y roja se eleva sobre el Río Bow [Bow River], conectando la orilla norte con el centro de la ciudad y facilitando a los residentes la comunicación dentro y fuera de la ciudad, a pie o en bicicleta.

El diseño en hélice, que ha sido comparado con un atrapadedos chino y una barra de caramelo, es una novedad para Calatrava, cuyos puentes icónicos son reconocidos en el mundo entero por sus largos -mástiles-, delicados cables de acero y ausencia de simetría. Como este puente tenía que ser diseñado sin pilares en el lecho del río ni elementos verticales por encima, requería una propuesta diferente, dando como resultado su forma tubular. Aparentemente minimalista en un primer vistazo, -Peace Bridge- [Puente de la Paz] es -un puente de alta tecnología- dijo Calatrava, -como ningún otro haya sido diseñado jamás-.

-Para mí, es un momento culminante, porque nunca había hecho un puente como este-, dijo Calatrava. -De los 14 puentes que he construido, no hay ninguno que siga este principio, ninguno que esté hecho con esta pureza. Y, tecnológicamente, es un puente exigente-.

Pintado en un brillante rojo canadiense el puente, de un único vano de 130 metros de longitud, tiene rutas separadas para peatones y ciclistas. Estará cubierto de cristal e iluminado durante la noche.

-The Peace Bridge, el nuevo puente de Calatrava para la ciudad de Calgary [Santiago Calatrava]-.


Texto en inglés.

The City of Calgary Canada has unveiled a new $24.5 million footbridge, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The red and white tubular structure which will span the Bow River and connect the North shore to the downtown, will make it easier for Calgarians to commute in and out of the city by foot or by bike.

The bridge’s helix design, which has been likened to a Chinese finger puzzle and a candy stick, is a departure for Calatrava, whose iconic bridges are recognizable worldwide for their soaring masts, delicate steel cables and absence of symmetry. But as this bridge had to be designed without piers in the riverbed or vertical elements above, it required a different approach, resulting in its tubular form. Seemingly simplistic at first glance, the Peace Bridge is 'a highly technical bridge' said Calatrava, like no other he has ever designed.

Painted a bright Canadian red, the 130 meter long single span bridge will have separate paths for pedestrians and cyclists. It will be covered in glass for year round use and lit at night.

Scheduled for completion in late 2010, the bridge is expected to be used by more than 5,000 people a day.

The newly released design for the city's new pedestrian bridge has been derided by some Calgarians as a gaudy red waste of $24.5 million, and praised by others as a sleek, elegant contribution to downtown Calgary.

But to the architect, Santiago Calatrava, the Bow span is the most accessible, functional and technically challenging one he's ever made.

-For me, it's a highlight, because I have never done a bridge like that-, Calatrava said in an exclusive interview with the Herald.

-Of the 14 bridges I have built, there's not one that follows this principle, not one that is done with this purity. And technically, it is a demanding bridge-.

Limited by City Hall's demand that no pillars go into the Bow River, and that no high masts interfere with the nearby Eau Claire helipad, the famed architect-engineer designed a webbed, tubular structure that stretches 130 metres across the water with only a slight, one per cent slope.

Unlike almost every other bridge on Earth, the steel helix supports itself, needing no beams, arches, cables or lower supports other than embankments, hidden in the river banks.

The Peace Bridge will be completed in fall 2010, offering separate pathways for cyclists and pedestrians.

Calatrava described it repeatedly as a -human bridge-, one he envisions in what he called -Canadian red-, in a nod to our flag, but also to make it stand out in winter and summer.

The Spanish-born architect said he's aware of public and council lambasting of the project's cost and extravagance in the midst of recession. But he said the rebuttal is offered by New York City, which he currently calls home.

-I think the greatest achievements in New York is the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Rockefeller Center, the George Washington Bridge. Those were all built in the Great Depression-, he said.

-One day or another this crisis will be finished and we will show ourselves to the future generations as courageous people, living in their future, not only in our future. I mean, in New York you have those great buildings, the greatest in the city, built in the most beautiful time-.

Initial public response was mostly negative, much of it with a resentment rooted in the project's cost and skepticism of the need for a sixth bridge that pedestrians can take across the Bow downtown.

-It is hideous and I can't believe what it costs--ridiculous-, Tracey Bryant wrote to the Herald.

-I cannot believe that a local architect could not have come up with a more original and appealing design-, Susan Waters wrote.

-This to me looks like something a child in school would dream up and it would cost far less than $24.5 million-.

Others were impressed by the unique design.

-Brilliant! Beautiful! Be proud, Calgary!- said Gordon Heinsen.

-Words that came immediately to mind when I first saw the design for the Peace Bridge were:symmetrical, fluid and airy-, said Greg Schoeman.

-As interesting and as beautiful from the inside as the outside. I can't wait to walk or bike across it!-

Mayor Dave Bronconnier, accused by some aldermen of trying to deflect criticism by giving the bridge a military theme, said it's a design that will nicely link the modern condos in Eau Claire to a beautified Memorial Drive, and reduce conflict between stroller-pushing parents and commuting cyclists.

-It's a piece of infrastructure, sort of like the Centre Street Bridge. It's a very nice structure, it serves its purpose and at the same time it's an attractive bridge-.

The mayor dined with Calatrava when the architect last visited in May to present his design to city staff. Bronconnier said he was impressed with how humble Calatrava was, and with how interested he was in various aspects of the Bow River.

Calatrava agreed to an interview with the Herald during that visit, on the condition it not be published until the design was released.

-I have to say that the first impressions I got about the bridge when I arrived here was that a lot of people--in a very inhospitable day--were jogging around-, he said.

-And I thought for those people, and in order to blend the communication of the north side with the south side of the river bank, you need a bridge that invites you to go through, even with the speed of the wind and the speed of the snowy weather-.

The city now pegs construction costs at $18 million, but the overall project at $24.5 million, including engineering costs, landscaping and contingencies.

There's $500,000 left over that council has approved for conceptual designs of another pedestrian and cycling bridge connecting East Village to Bridgeland.

Trying to ward off critics of the price tag, the city released a chart comparing the cost per square metre of the Peace Bridge -- $30,400 per in 2008 dollars--with other well-known footbridges.

London's Millennium Bridge cost $50,000 per square metre, a forthcoming Edmonton crossing cost $33,000 per square metre, while the Esplanade Riel in Winnipeg averaged $50,000.

Ron Goodfellow, like many Calgary architects, was frustrated Calatrava was selected without any design competition and chance for locals to offer designs.

He thought the design was striking, although didn't seem genuinely Calgarian.

But he said it will contribute to the city if it raises awareness of what great architecture looks like.

-That's one thing I would be using as a measuring stick if it was successful or not, or just another celebrity architect coming into Calgary and imposing something-, Goodfellow said.



.- Fuente en español: bufetetecnico.es.

.- Fuente en inglés: worldarchitecturenews.com, calgaryherald.com, wordpress.com, construmatica.com y jetvision.tv/video.