Cecil Balmond, Designer of Penn’s Weave Bridge, Tours his Completed Vision ‘Coiling in Space’
Photo credit: Heather A. Davis
The renowned structural engineer and designer Cecil Balmond was thrilled to tour his newest creation, Penn's Weave Bridge, on May 8 with University officials. “It’s got a modern rigor which I like,” he said.
Balmond, the Paul Philippe Cret Practice Professor of Architecture in the School of Design, describes the structure as “coiling in space,” as opposed to a more traditional truss design or simple structural beams that carry the weight.
“It’s so different from my last project, a romantic concrete footbridge in Portugal,” he said.
The funky design, based on the Chinese children’s finger trap toy, provides pedestrian access over the Amtrak rail lines from the main portion of campus to athletic fields and the ROTC center at the Hollenback Center.
“It’s part of a bigger picture,” he said. Its crisscross components—he calls them braids—are meant to extend to meet the earthen berms that are an important feature of Penn Park, the University’s plan for the 24 acres of former U.S. Post Office parking lots, that is to begin construction this year.
The Weave Bridge is the first structure to be completed in the Penn Connects campus development plan. A May 7 dedication/ribbon-cutting was postponed due to rain but is expected to be rescheduled.
Additional information on the bridge and Penn Connects is available at www.pennconnects.upenn.edu.
Originally published on May 8, 2009
