Sunday, March 25, 2012

View from the New Bridge

A few years ago the Grand Canal got a new bridge, spanning the gap between the train station and Piazzale Roma.
This ultra-modern structure was designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.
I've posted about this bridge a few times before:
"There's a New Bridge in Town"
"The Fourth Bridge and Santiago Calatrava"
"The Fourth Bridge is Finally Open"
"Calatrava's Bridge - Photos and Thoughts"
and "Vertebrae"

Here's a nice vista shot over the rail one morning in May a couple years back.
Water taxis line the fondamenta, a vaporetto chugs by,
and tourists take in what might be their first view of the city.


Over the years I've become somewhat of a fan of unusual bridges,
and had the occasion to cross another Calatrava span here in California:

If you focus enough attention on Venice, you're destined to become a fan of bridges.



2 comments:

Bob Easton said...

The Calatrava bridge has something the other 3 "big bridges" in Venice don't have, beautiful feet.

If all you do is walk across the bridge, you might not notice what I call the "feet." The normal pedestrian entries to the bridge are attractive and functional.

Stop before walking on the bridge (from either side) and consider walking around the entrance to get to the water. The Calatrava bridge has beautiful flowing structures leading to the water, structures not found on the other 3 large bridges and rarely found on smaller bridges.

Stop and enjoy the next time you cross.

Bob Easton said...

For a better ideal of what I meant by "feet," see photo 10 of 14 at this link.