The Bridge of the Future

The Bridge of the Future

Second Place Design: francesco colarossi (italy), giovanna saracino (italy), luisa saracino (italy)

Regione Calabria Town planning and the Territorial Governance Department in Italy had an idea to open the proposed area between Bagnara and Scilla for an international design competition.  There were only two rules that each entry had to abide by. The first rule was that the bridge had to take in consideration the surrounding environment.  The second rule was that the bridge had to incorporate renewable energies.

Impressively this second place winning design spans 12.4 miles of land and would feature a road that would use a special solar receptive materials (technology already exists) instead of asphalt AND 26 massive wind turbines.  It would also contain greenhouses, where the produce would be available for purchase by local farmers.  It is proposed that the energy produced by this massive bridge could power up to 15,000 houses a year.

This is only part of the story. Please follow the links below to learn more:

http://www.newitalianblood.com/solarparksouth/projects/300-1.html

http://www.archdaily.com/58207/solar-park-south-international-online-competition/

http://gizmodo.com/5750823/a-bridge-this-fine++and-eco+friendly++deserves-to-be-made