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ALBERT DOCK BRIDGE, LIVERPOOL, UK

Variously described as powerfully poetic, solidly stoic, nobly forlorn, classically cyclopean, the Albert Dock no longer vibrates with the presence of seamen and their unbelievable stories. The proposed pedestrian bridge design commissioned, by Arrowcroft, was an attempt at bringing back to the dock the excitement of the unusual and the unexpected. It is the missing link between Edward and Atlantic Pavilions and a piece of public art. At the moment the dock is devoid of public art and the presence of the Tate Liverpool is barely noticeable. Spanning 40 meters the bridge has a load bearing canopy formed of two intersecting hyperbolic paraboloids ( or toroids ). The semi-monocoque assembly is made of two seamless twelve gauge aluminium skins. The canopy is supported on four pin joints set off the dock wall so that no fixings are made to the adjacent buildings. The bridge was designed also as an interactive acoustic and light environment. Professor Jiri Strasky and his team at Brno University tested to destruction a scale model of our bridge.

developed with Techniker and the artist Peter Fink

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