Bridge Holešovice – Karlín
urbanism and lanscape
Authors: Radek Lampa, Tomáš Kroužil, Pavel Fajfr,
Collaborators: Daniel Šindler, Martin Havlík
Year of study: 2017
Investor: Prague City Hall
Place: Island Štvanice, Prague
Holešovice – Štvanice – Karlín
Primary Connection – The most comfortable and shortest pedestrian crossing between city districts and the island – their future recreational, sports and cultural center.
Secondary connection – connection of two quarters through the island
Holešovice footbridge and Karlín footbridge with a smooth ramp gradually integrate into the communication structure of the island – it comes out of it and becomes part of it. The ramp and the actual length of the bridges are as short as possible, and the footbridge is classified as a “walking and cycling trail”.
The footbridge is connected to the Holešovice border by a ramp directly at the sidewalk level, the direction of the road continues with pedestrian crossing, the ramp rises in the case of floods. On the boundary of Karlin, it is connected with the level of a cycling route for flood defenses and further down the direct ramp continues the journey into the area of planned public space.
The architectural and technical solution is based on the conclusions of our analysis, where it is important to bring the neighborhood closer to the island as close as possible, not to the nearest inter-district link. That’s why we designed two footbridges that end up on the shore of the island and will not continue building the island. This solution created a free space between the footbridges – the core of the meeting – the most important place in our design. The heart of the meeting is a pedestrian street that connects both walkways on one route. Besides this important communication, there is a paved area with benches facing the main view of the center of the core and tip of the island.
The footbridge should work inconspicuously, simply, but elegantly. The tectonic base of the footbridge is based on an exciting classic game of pillars and beams. The cross-sections of the columns and beams have been designed to create a pleasant, disturbing composition along with the height of the spans or pillars.
