How to Structure Buildings as Bridges

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Metaphorically, building bridges equates to creating new opportunities, connections, and paths. The first bridges likely formed naturally with logs falling across rivers and natural depressions, though humans have also been building rudimentary structures to overcome obstacles since prehistory. Today, technological advances have made it possible to erect bridges that are both impressive and sculptural, playing a key role in transportation and connectivity. Usually needing to overcome large spans, with few points of support, bridges can be quite difficult to structure. But when is the bridge more than a connection between two points, instead resembling a building with a complex program? How can these 'bridge houses' be structured?

Before the widespread use of steel and other tensile-resistant materials, bridges primarily consisted of arched structures. Crossing the Meles River in Turkey, the Caravan Bridge is the oldest known arched structure, built in 850 BC. The Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), another ancient bridge, is located in Florence over the Arno River, and draws attention to the landscape. It is estimated that it was rebuilt in 1345, after its previous wooden structure was destroyed by the floods. The structure, which contains three large stone arches, stands out for having several shops and picturesque buildings on it, like a street on the water.

There are several cases in which, due to design choices, programmatic necessities, or land restrictions, buildings need to be developed as large bridges. A very iconic project of modern Argentinian architecture uses this solution. At Casa sobre o arroio, by Amancio Williams, a concrete arch links the two banks of a stream, supporting a long rectangular volume with horizontal glass windows and beams.

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Cite: Souza, Eduardo. "How to Structure Buildings as Bridges" [Como projetar estruturas para casas ponte?] 25 Feb 2021. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/957274/how-to-structure-buildings-as-bridges> ISSN 0719-8884

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