S'A ARQUITECTOS + ESESTUDIO / BRIDGING THE CITY



SYNCHRONICTY 2008
DEEP SUBMERGENCE

1 Vistula River.
Warsaw is the only European Capital with a river still unregulated and unurbanized - in a simple expression, a wild river running in the middle of the city. At first, this can be seen as a problem in urgent need for a solution, but more often than expected, the answer is hidden in the question.

2 Thinking of the future. The best approach we can have is to maintain Vistula River as it is. The challenge of transforming Warsaw into the capital of the new eastern European front must start from a radical ecologic approach, or a 3-step program to sustainable development.

3 From Urban Handicap to Ecological Added Value. A “do-not-touch” concept is the first step.
It understands and accepts the wilderness condition of the river and assumes it as a positive value for the future.

4 Point to Point. Using parameters as mobility systems and transportation networks to decide the location of strategic placement of anchor developments in an urban scale. New transport interfaces are tactically placed along the river to generate city growth and attract program diversity.

5 Anchor Points. Five different bridges are the result of this strategic approach. These phylogenetic method results in different buildings adapted to diverse urban situations. River width, bank programs, city necessities, mobility networks, solar orientation, wind protection, panoramic views, etc. can influence and modify the design, transforming a basic shape into different bridge solutions.

6 City Extension The typology of the bridges is the result of the confrontation of different programs, somewhere between public and private, individual and collective. The city doesn’t stop in the river banks, but extends itself to connect both margins, transforming an urban fracture into a continuous city.

Architecture
S'A Arquitectos - Carlos Sant'Ana
Esestudio - Silvestre Castelani
Colaborators
Nádia Ribas, Paulina Szpiech and Junseung Woo