Copyright photo.
Sheikh Zayed Bridge, designed by London Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. From Maqta bridge, Abu Dhabi.
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A sinusoidal wave form perhaps inspired by sand dunes. Fluid.
The Road decks are cantilevered on each side of the spine structure. Steel arches rise and spring from mass concrete piers asymmetrically. The main bridge arch structure rises to a height of 60 m above water level.
Link:
www.zaha-hadid.com/architecture/sheikh-zayed-bridge/
Extract from More Rough Travel Notes with an Architectural Eye - 2012":
Abu Dhabi on the Gulf:
Abu Dhabi is capital and second largest city of the UAE. Abutting Dubai, it lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the south-western coast. Its rapid urbanisation coupled with high average income has recently transformed it into an advanced metropolis. Abu Dhabi alone generates about 57% of the UAE GDP.
Located on an island it is, however, less than 250 metres from the mainland and is joined to it by the Maqta and Mussafah bridges. A third, the Sheikh Zayed Bridge, which shows in my photos, was designed by London architect Zaha Hadid and opened in 2010. Abu Dhabi’s island is also connected to Saadiyat Island by a five-lane motorway — we’ll see the future architectural significance in a moment. Further multilayer interchange bridges also exist or are projected.
Abu Dhabi has a hot and arid climate, and blue skies can be expected throughout the year, handy for photographs.
But what of the new architecture? some spectacular. Whereas Dubai, building on trade, has put itself on the map and become the world-noted financial and trade centre of the Middle-East, Abu Dhabi with its vast oil reserves has funding far into the future. It has decided to become an advanced international Cultural Centre. In just a few years global architectural attention will be on Saadiyat Island. Designed by world-leading, or at least celebrated, architects, Saadiyat Cultural District, now underway, is to be a beacon on the international arts scene, home to the Zayed National Museum, Louvre Abu Dhabi, Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, and Performing Arts Centre.
This will be a focus for global culture — an entire district on Saadiyat devoted to the arts, unprecedented in scale, drawing local, regional, and international visitors. The buildings are intended to make a statement of the most impressive architecture of the early 21st century.
The key institutions are:
Zayed National Museum — history of the UAE region and its cultural connections around the world; set to open in 2016. It’s elevated above the rest of the district. The architects are Foster + Partners with the design inspired by the dynamic of flight and the feathers of a falcon. Each steel feather contains a gallery space where visitors can explore the history and culture of the UAE. The building’s surrounded by water and set within landscaped gardens. Construction has started.
Louvre Abu Dhabi is designed to house aesthetic expressions of different civilisations and cultures, from ancient to contemporary. It’s born of an agreement between the governments of Abu Dhabi and France, being the first Louvre outside France. This gallery is set to open in 2015. A fine-arts museum, it’s described by its architect Jean Nouvel as “an island on an island”. Under a supersize “floating” dome the Louvre is a display where light patterns illuminate a micro-city of galleries and landscaping. The construction was awarded recently, following competitive tendering.
Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is a trans-national platform for global contemporary art and culture that will present artistic achievements of our time. Through its permanent collection and educational programmes it’s intended to also present perspective on art history. Frank Ghery was the architect — the scheme is easily read as his, playful, extra large and dramatically sited. Work is underway, and it’s set to open about 2017.
The Performing Arts Centre is to be home for a multiplicity of traditions. It was designed by Zaha Hadid and makes dynamic sculptural-lozenge forms typical of her design, but further advanced and supersized. The centre will house a music hall, concert hall, opera house, drama theatre, and an experimental performance space.
At this stage the workers’ accommodation is built and occupied, and the large schemes underway, just above sand level.
But what I wanted to see at Abu Dhabi was a quick look at several of their more-interesting newly-completed buildings of high-noted architecture already in use. Skyscrapers such as the Investment Tower and the Etisalat building are found clustered in the financial district. Other notable buildings are more peripheral.
Come on. Warm sunny day as promised.
Here, seen from Maqta bridge, is the Sheik Zayed Bridge designed by Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The sinusoidal wave form is perhaps inspired by sand dunes — you’ll appreciate the fluid results. The road decks are cantilevered on each side of the spine structure. Steel arches rise and spring from mass concrete piers asymmetrically. The main bridge arch rises to a height of 60 m above water level with the roadway crowning to a height of 20 m above the water. A whole class better than the usual mechanical, visually ignorant, structure but very expensive I gather.
P :-)
