The site is located in the heart of the country's capital city, Bucharest near Unirii square.

For more than 2 centuries the crossing over the Dambovita river had a particular importance at this very point. Calicilor bridge was an important element in the circulatory system of the city. Still the economic realities have change dramatically over the past decades and the bridge (later named Rahova) was demolished in the late 1930's and never rebuilt. Nowadays the city in need to reaffirm its history looks for a way to reconnect several important cultural routes and rebuilding the Calicilor Bridge has become more than a simple desire. Archetypes Contest framework proved a very good starting point to develop a bridge at the location. As the contest theme stated the design had to be: a public space activator, novel, sustainable, reusable, recyclable and interesting. Added to the mixture the obvious functional value of a bridge and all the qualities an urban pavilion could posses were already a must.... So . Not an easy task! In order to better understand the proposed design first we must investigate the process. Because the answer to the contest theme and the place had to be plenary from the beginning we had to think from all the angles. We identified four main criteria all of them hybrids between the classical Vitruvian qualities of architecture and modern necessities. For all the criteria we developed a concept that later contributed to the design whole. In the following paragraphs I will try to explain all of them 1. Urban/geometric concept. This concept connects the requirements and relevant studies of the site with abstract geometry derived from the particulars of such a special location. The most important aspect of the site is the river (hence the need for a bridge). The two parts of the Splaiul Independentei Boulevard running parallel to the river (north and south shores) are also very important as they are part of a major artery of the city. Third are the two perpendicular streets Selari and Sf. Apostoli, their position marks create two junctions that will become one after the bridge is constructed. Last but not least come the street fronts and the interesting relation between various (old an new) buildings and the water/river banks. The geometric concept is the key to the whole design. Every operation every line drawn is the direct result of a geometrical equation calculated through a parametric Grasshopper script. The script's data inputs are the exact position of the bridge a line perpendicular to the river banks as the shortest route in between two points, and the specific arch-like shape of most bridges. Also another input is the specific movement translated into rotation going on on each bank. The car and predominant pedestrian movement on the south bank is from west to east and on the north bank is from east to west. This specificity shaped the roto-translation movement that creates the unique shape. The steps are detailed on the first board of the graphical presentation. In short a 3 by 4 meeter virtual rectangle is rotated starting from underneath the banks from a horizontal position into a vertical one in a few steps and moved with a fixed distance in the same time. Then the same rectangle is rotated starting from both banks along a arc and moved towards the opposing bank until the movements started from both banks connect in the middle of the river. The rotation is constant 20 degrees and the movement also (3,3m) for each step.

The resulting shape looks like continuous rotational movement from start to finish and resembles a traditional twisted rope (one reason for the name of the project) . All the above figures are calculated by the script and the definition is automatically adapted to accommodate any shape and dimensions of the curve spanning the banks. (this is a reason why the project is higly adaptable to any particular situation). The final shape of the structure for the bridge is achieved through connecting corresponding rectangle corners directly and diagonally from one frame to the next. The walking surface the actual transporter of people from one part to the other is an intersection of the structure with the offset of the initial curve crossing the river. 2. Structure and statics and dynamics :) If the geometrical concept of the bridge is the key to the whole design the structural concept is definitely the lock. It keeps everything in place. The two are the direct result of each other. From the geometrical point of view the rotational movement along the arc across the river coupled with the diagonal connection of the consecutive frames (rectangles) produces tetrahedron the only rigid platonic solid. These tetrahedron make-up the shell of the rope across the river thus creating a rigid tube. The beauty of the concept is that since only axial forces travel through the elements, the sections can be fairly small and the material consumptions minimal. For details see board number 3 of the graphical presentation. The bridge's structure main material is normal whitewood beams with sections of 15x15 or 12x12 cm. The wooden beams are connected with special metal joints custom made for the project. The connectors (joints) are constituted of a central solid metal sphere (160 mm diameter) with welded cruciform profiles that lead to a plate (stopper) connected to the wooden beam through metal insertions and bolts. (see detail on board of the graphical presentation). The connection angles are calculated for each connector and each member and are extracted as three planar angles (heading, tilt and banking). This way using precise machinery to hold the plates while welding any joint can be fabricated well inside the budget. A structural tree-dimensional calculus has been computed in (Risa3d http://www.risa.com/p_risa3d.html) for the whole structure and all the members can be created to sustain loads inside the nominal values. (see board 3 of graphical presentation for some diagrams). 3. Economics and feasibility. One of the criteria for evaluating the projects was the ability to fit the whole construction inside the 100.000 Eur budget. The pavilion(bridge) has also to be buildable from a logistics point of view. This was of great importance for us too. More than 95% of the building material required for the construction is local conifer wood, this equals cheap !. The entire 15 qm required for the construction of the structure will cost less than 2000 euro. (no typo here:). All in all the costs, labor and material including transport an maintenance will be less than 70% the budget (including the dismantling costs). Leaving a good part of the budget for ulterior applications of the dismantled structure. Look in part 4 for details or on board four of the graphical presentation. The feasibility is also a high point of the project. Because the construction is modular can be per-assembled at a specialized shop and transported in larger parts at the building site (thus cutting erection time and avoiding problems with traffic or residents in the area). Large machines (cranes) are only required briefly for loading/unloading and erection of the pre-assembled parts on site (the latter can be done in one day on site). The structure can be tested in parts or as a whole off-site for optimum results then

disassembled and transported on site. Aside for the metal joints there is no need for skilled labor during the assembly all the parts will be labeled from the factory/shop and the final assembly will just be a giant puzzle. All the other parts (the finishes) are standard mundane materials (metal pipe, perforated sheet-metal, wooden decking, nuts and bolts (literally). The real science is producing the exact dimensions in the project to fit everything together. Maintenance costs over the 12 month period (lighting excluded) are null. 4. Ecology an sustainability If in the previous part we affirmed the project was created to be economically feasible we can say about the sustainability of the whole construction that is even more important in the general design process. The last board contains a graphical representation of a cradle to cradle assessment for the bridge. Basically the imagery follows the bridge through the fabrication phases and later on after the 12 months of display in Bucharest on a variety of different alternative paths of existence. The board practically proves the bridge is not only recyclable but more than that is reusable both as a bridge (in different circumstances) or as something else a pavilion, an observation tower, a playground etc. Of course sustainability means the materials used for the bridge can be reused and while that is totally true, we went a few steps further and analyzed how assembled parts of the structure can function with a different use. The start is not forgotten and the bridge can start as something else ends. The materials used can be reclaimed wood from old telephone post (they are allover the country with no function anymore) and the metal can come from old abandoned cars (the promoters can buy them from the city administration as it collects them). Even if the wood used comes from newly cut trees the project can try to make up for it by proposing tree wooden-containers from the left-over wood after the twelve months period. The structure uses no power to function (only for night architectural lighting) no water, no gas and produces no waste. All the materials can be recycled except for the foundations which will remain on the banks of Dambovita but under the pavement.

Cost estimate for building ROPPE Bridge Price/ Quantity 120,00 35,00 100,00 2,00 0,00 0,00 20,00 4,35 100,00 3,00 1,00 Labor price/ quantitiy 60,00 25,00 50,00 4,00 11,00 100,00 20,00 4,00 30,00 0,00 0,00

nr. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Article Wood structure Wood decking Reinforced concrete Metal conectors Digging Drilling piles Sheet metal Metal pipe handrail Arh light fixture includin wire crane rent Transport

measured in qm sqm qm kg qm m sqm m nr elem hour km

Quantity 14,90 164,50 21,50 4176,00 10,00 34,00 85,97 218,32 44,00 48,00 1000,00 Total

total 2682,00 9870,00 3225,00 25056,00 110,00 3400,00 3438,80 1822,97 5720,00 144,00 1000,00 56468,77 70021,28

observation whitewood larix incl metal reinf incl bolts foundations special drill perforated with paint outdoor fixtures 2 x 24 all transport excluding VAT incl VAT