Bridge of Houses

“The historical model of houses on bridges serves here as a premise, a site for architectural invention. A historical foundation is a framework for invention clarified in the typological model as the bases for the new… In the projects presented here, the bridge accepts the idiosyncrasies of each of the houses, in a thesis-antitheses order paralleling individual architectures in the geometric limits of the gridded city.” Steven Holl. Pamphlet Architecture 7: Bridge of Houses [1981, William Stout Books] At the end of the 1970s, Steven Holl presents two projects where he speculates the urban relation of the bridge with the urban fabric and how this infrastructure is able to create collective space as an extension or alternative to the traditional street. Although the two proposals have almost an opposing starting point and very different urban goals, they both attempts to find spatial solutions to the relation between the bridge and the housing above it, between a public area for transit and a private area for living. The connection between the two projects is the use of the building-bridge typology that has been a milestone through the history of architecture with examples as the Old London Bridge or the Ponte Vecchio in Florence. Steven Holl reinterpreted it with a postmodern language that appeared at the end of the International Movement. A finales de la década de 1970, Steven Holl presenta dos proyectos en los que investiga la relación urbana del puente con el tejido urbano y como ésta es capaz de crear espacio colectivo como una extensión o alternativa a la calle tradicional . Pese a que ambas propuestas tienen un punto de partida casi opuesto y unos objetivos urbanos distintos , ambas tratan de encontrar soluciones espaciales a la relación entre el puente y las viviendas sobre él, entre un lugar de tránsito, público, y un lugar de recogimiento más privado .