glass bridge / Life of Haizuka

 

Glass Bridge as Haizuka Earthworks Projects, 1997~2007

 

This project is located at Haizuka dam construction area and as one of Haizuka Earthworks Projects*. We are commissioned from Mirasaka town, Hiroshima prefecture, Japan to design guardrail and pavement for the newly large bridge over the dam lake in collaboration with local people. As a result, we put over 190 sheets of glass panel (300×1800mm) to the outside of guardrail. Furthermore, collaborating with Japanese artist, Hiroshi Fuji, we design the glass panel as an Encyclopedia of living things in haizuka dam area. Therefore, "Glass bridge" is a project as landscape design, as a small museum, as a communication art, and as an architecture.

 

*Haizuka Earthworks Projects:

Haizuka Earthworks Projects is an environmental art activity launched in 1994 as part of the program for reconstructing the Haizuka dam area in the northwestern part of Hiroshima, Japan. Through the executive committee, composed of experts as well as representatives of the region and Ministry of Construction, Earthworks Projects continued to propose and carry out diverse educational and cultural activities.

 

 

Project history, 1997~99

 

The project for the Haizuka dam bridge started from the summer workshop for Mirasaka town, 1997.  It continued to the proposal for Mirasaka town dam area environmental design master plan.In 1998, we were commissioned from Mirasaka town to make the plan for Haizuka dam bridge area. In this year, we proposed " the Bridge between old and new memories.*" This concept means the bridge connect figureless like memories, the Time Capsule Bridge, the bridge as a gallery, and the bridge as a story.

We asked an artist, Hiroshi Fuji, to collaborate for this master plan. He proposed the idea of " observation park of the nature." As a result, we put over 190 sheets of glass panel to the bridge as a gallery. And then, we proposed " observation of the nature notebook", reflecting various living things in Haizuka area.

 

*Bridge between old and new memories, 1998

 "Bridge" have a meaning "connect, bury." The glass bridge of about 190m in length  doesn't only physically connect both shores, but also connect  the formless things like  memories  It is a bridge as the time capsule, a bridge as the gallery and the bridge as the story.Many glass plates  wrap the bridge, it makes  a vague outline of the bridge in the natural environment.

 

 

LIFE OF HAIZUKA / living things in Haizuka

 

GLASS BRIDGE is a communications art that is called "LIFE OF HAIZUKA" by the cooperation with Hiroshi FUJI, Japanese artist. 

Residents who lived before in the dam area had to moved to new town by the dam construction.

91 kinds of  living things that becomes the pattern of the glass plate were selected in several workshops with local peoples of the dam area from about 500 kinds. 

This is a connecting project between past and future by selecting memorable living things such as flowers and insects and handing down them to  future generations. 

 

 

 

Project data

 

location : Mirasaka, Miyoshi, Hiroshima, JAPAN

client : Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

principal use : bridge (design of railing and pavement

design period : 1997~2002

construction period : 1998~2007

architect : Hideki YOSHIMATSU+archipro architects

project architect : Hideki YOSHIMATSU, Michio MAEDA

collaboration artist : Hiroshi Fuji, Committee of Haizuka Earthworks projects

 

 

 

Drawings


GlassBridge_e.pdf
Adobe Acrobat Document 180.8 KB

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