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Leading French engineer,
Michel Virlogeux calls for architects to be more 'rational' and engineers
to be more 'creative'
25 Jul 2008
SPANS: Viaducts, Bridges and Walkways
25 Jul 20 Sep 2008

Images : Agnese Sanvito
A major new exhibition featuring the best new bridges, viaducts and walkways
from UK bridge designers opened last night by the acclaimed French engineer,
Michel Virlogeux. Speaking at the exhibition in Londons Building
Centre Virlogeux made a plea for architects to be more rational
in their thinking and engineers more creative.
Virlogeux presented the intricate details of the engineering behind his
iconic project the Millau Viaduct in France designed in collaboration
with by Foster
+ Partners to an audience of over 300. The Millau Viaduct has regenerated
a whole region, as well as vastly improving road connections, thanks to
its audacious 2.5km leap across the Tarn valley. It is now the largest
French tourist attraction outside of Paris, welcoming 7,000 visitors each
day.
SPANS: Viaducts, Bridges and Walkways is the first bridge exhibition to
come to London since the Royal Academys blockbusting Living Bridges
in 1996. Stirling prize winning architect Chris Wilkinson, Director Wilkinson
Eyre Architects, most famed for the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, comments:
I want to make a plea for more bridges across the river to address
the great north, south divide. Apart from the fine Millennium and Hungerford
bridges, we havent managed to build any new bridges for centuries
despite the massive development on both banks and this is one of the reasons
why the river is so undervalued. We need to build more beautiful bridges
we can be proud of to bring more life back to the Thames.

Mike Davies of Rogers Stirk Harbour & Partners has outlined his ideas
on improving pedestrian and cycle access across the River Thames. In Crossing
The Thames, an article that appears in the exhibition catalogue, Davies
proposes an idea for aerial cable cars linking the South Bank to Northumberland
Avenue and Trafalgar Square.
SPANS: Viaducts, Bridges and Walkways at the Building Centre brings together
cutting edge technology, natural materials and daring aesthetics. New
bridges have been quietly transforming themselves from functional devices
to cross a divide into major destinations in their own right.
The exhibition will be at The Building Centre, Store Street, London, WC1
from 25 July 20 September 2008.
Exhibition details:
Venue: Main gallery, The Building Centre, 26 Store Street, London, WC1
Opening times: MonFri, 9am6pm and Saturday, 10am5pm.
Admission free.
Nearest tube: Tottenham Court Road or Goodge Street
Telephone: 020 7692 4000
Further details: www.buildingcentre.co.uk
London Buildings
Morning talks:
To accompany the exhibition a series of Morning Talks will run every Wednesday.
All talks start at 8:30am and are free to attend:
30 Jul Tim Lucas, Partner, Price & Myers
6 Aug Hanif Kara, Director, Adams Kara Taylor
13 Aug Chris Wise, Director, Expedition Engineering
20 Aug Jim Eyre, Director, Wilkinson Eyre Architects
3 Sep Matthew Wells, Director, Techniker
10 Sep Martin Knight, Knight Architects and Renato Benedetti, Partner,
McDowell+Benedetti
17 Sep Julia Barfield, Director, Marks Barfield Architects and Jane Wernick,
Director, Jane Wernick Associates
The Building Centre is an independent forum where all sectors working
in built environment can come together to share best practice in planning,
design and technology. It hosts a number of industry organisations to
further these aims. It is a place that the public can visit learn about
the industry and join the debate www.buildingcentre.co.uk
The exhibition is part of the joint Building Centre and New London Architecture
exhibition programme. New London Architecture (NLA) at The Building Centre
is an exhibition space dedicated to the future of the built environment
in London - www.newlondonarchitecture.org
London Houses
World Architecture: e-architect
- a guide to key buildings across the globe
Imagination Store Street
London Architects
Comments / photos for the London Buildings page welcome: info@e-architect.co.uk
London Architecture - page
: adrian welch / isabelle lomholt
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