Glass Bridge (not Yet Realized), 2003
Is it possible to make a bridge out of glass?
To celebrate the luminous potential of glass and use it as a sole structural material, the studio experimented with compressing 1,200 pieces, or 154 tons, into a traversable beam. Bridges have been built using compression since the stone arches of antiquity; this new design squeezes sheets of industrially produced flat glass horizontally. The studio developed this concept and investigated its feasibility with scale models and prototypes in collaboration with bridge-design and glass-technology experts. A test with full-size rigs proved that the glass beam was strong enough to support a person standing at its midpoint.
It is credited
Courtesy of Heatherwick Studio.
Our curators have highlighted 2 objects that are related to this one.
This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio.