20 October 2009

Bridge competition debris part 17: Galp Energia Bridge

I wasn't previously aware of this recent competition to design a new foot and cycle bridge over a highway in Lisbon. It was run over the summer, promoted by Fundação Galp Energia, a Portugese gas and oil distribution company, and ExperimentaDesign, a biennale design exhibition. Open only to registered architects, the scheme proposed a bridge with a 1m euro budget, and the contest had a reasonable prize fund, with 20,000 euros shared amongst the winners.

The organisers received 62 submissions from 14 countries, and the results were announced a couple of weeks ago. I've included whichever images I can find online below. I've left all the entries without comment, so feel free to add comments below.

As always, click on any image for a larger version. Links are provided if the designer's website has more information on a particular design.

Winner
Telmo Cruz + Maximina Almeida + António Adão da Fonseca


Second
Moxon Architects Limited




Third
Impromptu Arquitectos + Selahattin Tuysuz Architecture (also at designboom)




Honourable Mention
Studio Kawamura Ganjavian


Honourable Mention
Atelier do Cardoso




Special Mention
Tiago Barros + Jorge Pereira (see Bustler and designboom)





Others
Filipe Melo e Oliveira + Madalena Caiado




Update 22 October:
Another entry:
Pedro Pimentel

6 comments:

Stuart said...

Could you explain the winner? I just don't "get" it.

Are we really allowed to jump cars!

thanks HP!

Eleff said...

I think the Tiago Barros + Jorge Pereira "ramp" design is great. What's even better are the comments on designboom.com in reaction to the proposal - There's been some serious sense of humour failures!

In reality though, i see it as only a fraction less feasible than some of the 'serious' entries we see to bridge design competitions!!

The Happy Pontist said...

Yes, the ramp was far and away my favourite, treating this contest with precisely the degree of seriousness that it merited.

For the winning design, you can see some faint lines on the model floor which I think indicate the edges of the carriageway. On that basis, the bridge is a bit like two tripods propped against each other. It would be stable, but need to be pretty strong to carry the walkway leg which runs parallel to and above the highway.

Anonymous said...

The winning schemes all seem to be trying to make as long a structure as possible - whatever happened to keeping the span as short as possible? Only the car ramp really observes (inverts) this notion and is undoubtedly the most creative entry to a bridge competition in years. I like the entertainment opportunities in the second placed entry, whose twin blind corners would be enormously dangerous for speeding cyclists. Think I'd rather take my chances on the Barros & Pereira ramp!

Anonymous said...

This competition was a joke. The organizers gave the winning prize to a team anchored by this guy, António Adão, who was called to lay the ground rules for judging the competition! The organizers first mentioned the name of only the two winners, and then weeks later they added the name of this guy António Adão to the list. They called it an international competition just to give it sheen of respectability, while most of the entries that won were local.
I took this up with the organizers but they chose to remain silent on the subject.
Check out their website: http://www.experimentadesign.pt/2009/en/00-02-01.html
to see this scam.
Avoid taking part in competitions in Portugal in the future; it is still a feudal country.

Anonymous said...

If this is true it is bizarre that the advisor to the jury was not prevented from entering through an obvious conflict of interest, and outrageous that his name was 'quietly' published after the winner was announced. The winner should be disqualified and the second placed team appointed winner. This apparent scam discredits Portugal and its architects and engineers.