Un upgraded urban bridge

The aim of the authors Bojan Karanov and Ogden Marina is to present an open approach to form finding process as a result of interaction of functional, engineering, cultural and social issues that is in contrast with designing in predetermined styles, and fixed and predetermined typologies. Our design for a new pedestrian bridge on the river Vardar in the centre of Skopje creates new urban landscapes acting simultaneously as a social attractor and as an element of the urban infrastructure. Besides its main function of enabling pedestrians to cross the river our bridge is designed to be a new form of public space over water, upgrading the existing public spaces in its surroundings as well as upgrading the meaning of the term urban bridge. This bridge is much more than a sum of its parts. Its geometry and structure are result of formal and functional concepts expressing high level of social responsibility and ethical and aesthetical approach to complex engineering challenges in urban areas.