Paul Endres – Endrestudio

Dublin Link Bridge, Dublin, Ohio (Endrestudio, 2020)

As the central locus for a broad redevelopment plan, this iconic pedestrian bridge creates a vibrant new link between the historic district of the City of Dublin and a new commercial district across the meandering Scioto River to the east.

The 14-foot wide deck soars across a new network of trails through the verdant floodplain of the river below. The deck lifts from a plaza at the western edge of the river’s banks, rises through the canopy of trees, and passes through the eye of the needle at the central tower 120 feet above the normal river height. The sinuous curve of the bridge is suspended on one side only, adding to the weightlessness of the procession from the old city to the modern new hub.

James Baird – Holabird & Root

Rhythm City Skybridge, Davenport, Iowa (Holabird & Root, 2005)

In 2003 the city of Davenport, Iowa held a limited design competition for the creation of a bridge that would connect the central business district to the edge of the Mississippi River. With four teams participating, Holabird & Root was selected with a submission that spanned three city blocks over a parking garage, highway, and heavily used railroad tracks.

The 575 feet long bridge is suspended 50 feet in the air from 100 feet high canted steel masts. The lower deck is hung from the upper deck with three-quarter inch rods and butt glazed walls slant outwards (like an airport control tower) to reduce the effect of sun glare and rain. During the day these factors result in a clear unobstructed view from the bridge to the river and surrounding city. At night, LED lighting pulsates through the bridge creating a rhythmic spectrum of color.

In 2005, the Rhythm City Skybridge received the “Excellence in Structural Engineering Award” from the National Council of Structural Engineers Association.In 2008 the Skybridge was given the “Mies van der Rohe Award” by AIA Illinois for demonstrating “innovation in overall concept design and detail”.

William Baker – SOM

Broadgate - Exchange House, London, England (SOM, 1990)

When it opened in 1990, London’s Exchange House became an instant classic, one that exemplified a core belief at SOM that virtually all of the world’s cities can generate new urban space. Here, the space was found by utilizing air rights and applying sophisticated engineering techniques to the architectural design.

Exchange House is a building-bridge hybrid: its form and structure are built on an exposed steel bridge spanning a 78-meter-long rail yard. A platform arches over the train tracks, enabling the Liverpool Street Station to function normally underneath a 10-story office building. Four parallel structural arches, two expressed externally and two internally, provide the building’s skeleton, enabling column-free interior spaces.

The project amounted to one of the largest net additions of new infrastructure in one of the world’s densest cities. It also catalyzed the development of new streetscapes, lawns, bridges, and plazas in the area. Exchange House is located within the Broadgate Development, a mixed-use district master planned by SOM. The building was developed by Rosehaugh Stanhope Developments in partnership with British Rail. Today, it is jointly owned by British Land and GIC.

Myron Goldsmith (ARCH '39, M.ARCH.'53) – SOM

In 1978, SOM architect Myron Goldsmith and engineer T.Y. Lin designed a bridge to span the middle fork of California’s American River, literally turning the discipline of bridge-building on its side. Their bridge scheme for the Ruck-a-Chucky gorge was an elegant solution to a challenging topographic problem: a wide, deep river bordered by banks with 40-degree slopes. To build a straight bridge, deep cuts and tunnels were required to create the approaches, and 500 foot-tall partially submerged pylons, which would have been difficult and expensive to make seismically stable, were needed.

With these concerns in mind, Goldsmith proposed what he called “a hanging arc,” a curved bridge suspended by 80 stayed, high-strength cables attached to anchors embedded in the hillsides. The weight of the deck would have been balanced by the surrounding array of tensile forces.

The design had a number of advantages, including the fact that the cables could be easily post-tensioned to control stresses and strains, while being anchored in the hillside in a manner that would regulate pressure on the curved steel and concrete girders. Moreover, tests showed that the curved design was particularly effective in dealing with earthquakes and high winds. To this day, the design stands as a masterwork of innovative design and structural economy.

Jong Soung Kimm (ARCH '61, M.ARCH.'64) – SAC International

Weight-lifting Gymnasium for Seoul Olympics (1986)

The gymnasium for the weight-lifting competition for 1988 Seoul Olympics consists of two parts: a U-shaped arena for the competition itself, accessible from the upper north pedestrian level and a set of closed functions on the southern lower gymnasium. It was envisaged that after the Olympic games, the building would be used as a general-purpose arena or gymnasium with some spaces reconfigured.*

The gymnasium is planned as a vast single space measuring 195 feet x 260 feet. Permanent seating for 1,000 attendees is provided by a concrete seating shell rising from the spectator level. Telescoping bleachers stepping down from the spectator to the gymnasium level 18 feet below provide additional seating for 2,500.

The structural concept is the integral part of the architecture for the gymnasium. The structure is framed by a skewed-chord space truss developed at Takenaka Corporation. In this structural system, the bottom chords are laid out diagonally to the building axis at 46 feet intervals, while the top chords run orthogonally at 33 feet on center and 23 feet above the bottom chords. The spans for the roof beams are kept smaller than the much wider spacing of the bottom chord members. Translucent fiberglass insulating panels cover 23 feet high sloped walls, providing ample daylight for the main space. The total floor area is 985,000 square feet.

*The building has been converted to a musical theater, a black box inside the structure.