HOME
Bridges Parkwijk Leidsche Rijn
Maxwan | |
| location | Utrecht |
| function | bridge, urban plan |
| contributed by | calahan |
The master plan for Leidsche Rijn was developed by Maxwan between ‘93 and '95. With 30.000 houses it is one of the largest urban schemes in Dutch history. The scheme features a large network of canals that are part of the sustainable water-management plan. Some 100 bridges connect the road network over these canals. Maxwan designed a new family of 16 bridges for Leidsche Rijn. These bridges hardly have to bridge: the canals are not wide and are not accessible to big boats. Maxwan decided not to make an issue out of the span, but to rather treat each bridge as a piece of public space with a special gift: to be above water. Because a good road implies efficiency and luxury of connection - for all users - the smoothest links possible were made, curving the sides of the bridge to match the traffic givens on either side of the water. 'Ponds' were allowed to appear in the deck of the bridge, where asphalt was not needed. The bridges are outlined with mirror-polished stainless steel railings.
No MIMOA account? Register here!