BRIDGE BY THE CANAL

The bridge beside the water is located on a quay across from a medieval firebreak. It is a non-place, a spot that has lost its function in the city. The bridge house is conceived as a void that incorporates several potentialities: a place of contemplation, a place to eat, sleep or meet up with people. This is combined with a supporting infrastructure that is capable of bridging open spaces. This layered quality and open functionality is often found in the work of Studio Mumbai. Flux, mobility and unpredictability play key roles in their concepts, along with the mutability of time perception and the rejection of linear, outcome-oriented thinking. The bridge house also brings with it a taste of the megacity: the urgent lack of space and shortage of housing that leads to increasing numbers of people struggling to find adequate shelter. But its primary function is as a place where people can protect themselves from the intrusive gaze of viewers and visitors. The construction is reminiscent of famous medieval bridges, such as the Ponte Vecchio in Florence and Krämerbrücke in Erfurt, which also combine commercial and residential functions.