Circular Footbridge
Project info-
Location:Rzeszów
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Client:City of Rzeszow
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Type:Infrastructure
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Status:Completed
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Design:2009-2010
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Construction:2011-2012
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Scope:Concept design, Design development, Executive design
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Share:
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MWM Team:Marcin Smoczeński, Wacław Matłok, Maciej Łobos, Adela Koszuta-Szylar, Piotr Rzeźwicki, Tomasz Kudła, Agata Podolec
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Colaborators:
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Structural Engineer:Promost Consulting
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Contractor:Skanska
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Project Management:Promost Consulting
The footbridge has become one of the most recognizable elements of the panorama of contemporary Rzeszow and a place of social meetings.
The footbridge is the result of creative cooperation between architects and engineers, the original goal of which was to find a collision-free solution for intensive pedestrian traffic at one of the busiest intersections in Rzeszow. The prestigious location in the very center of the city has inspired to search for unique formal and technical solutions.
Steel structure with a box cross-section provides necessary rigidity and makes that the structure is supported only at four points – on supports created by elevators, ramps and staircases. As a result, its distinctive ring with a diameter of 39 meters floats above the street at a height of 5.5 meters, and the illuminated, full-glass railings enhance the effect of lightness and unreality after dark.
The unusual shape of the footbridge is the result of an analysis of the pedestrian traffic torrents, which at the intersection of Piłsudskiego street and Grunwaldzka street is carried out with high intensity in all directions. In such cases, the algorithm of human behavior is the result of overlap of two conflicting tendencies – desire to overcome the distance as soon as possible and desire to avoid accidental encounters and collisions with other participants of the traffic. As a consequence, communication naturally begins to take place along a route which is close to the wheel shape.
