Tandorosti Bridge / Katoum Architecture Studio
Tandorosti Bridge / Katoum Architecture Studio
Tandorosti is a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over one of the major motorways (Sheikh-Fazlollah-Nuri) in Tehran, Iran. Consisted of a 180-meter-long bridge and a 90-meter-long ramp, Tandorosti extends a linear park (Bagh-Rahe-e Hemmat) on one side of the motorway and connects it to a local park and a major roundabout on the other side (Fadak Park, sanat square) and creates a 4km walkway. The bridge characterizes a new approach in Tehran city planning: to reunite the neighborhood split apart by transport infrastructure. The approach aims to break through the vehicle infrastructure imprisoning isolated communities and promote green modes of transport in one of the most polluted metropolitan areas across the globe. So does the Tandorosti bridge.
The design idea was to create a minimal yet outstanding urban icon. Tandorosti‘s ramps and surfaces were meant to be perceived as an object from its surrounding. Tandorosti was designed to be understood as a single piece with a sculptural character rather than a set of parts. To this end, the bridge’s structural elements were concealed in 120 x 40 mm steel hollow sections.
To avoid blocking the view of pedestrians and cyclists to the green valley embedding the motorway and Alborz mountains, 70% of the bridge sides are hollow, and only 30% is closed. This has been materialized by the repetition of U-shaped profiles (every 15 cm), which function as handrails on the sides and cover the structural elements at the bridge’s bottom. The U-shaped profiles, furthermore, pave the bridge with dynamic patterns of shadow with hourly and seasonal variations. For the U-shaped profiles to look like suspending objects – one of the principal design ideas – all other parts of the bridge are pained in dark grey. The U-shaped basket itself is painted in white to arouse the feeling of lightness. Rather than the paint, there are no additions to materials, they are pure and explicit.
