2024 PLEČNIK MEDAL for Public Space

Footbridge for Pedestrians and Cyclists in Irča vas

Authors:
Blaž Budja
Rok Jereb
Marjan Pipenbaher
Tomaž Weingerl
Dušan Stupar

Data:
Footbridge for Pedestrians and Cyclists in Irča vas
Category: Public Space
Authors: Blaž Budja, Rok Jereb, Marjan Pipenbaher, Tomaž Weingerl, Dušan Stupar
Collaborators:
Location: Irča vas by Novo mesto, Slovenia
Year of realisation: 2023
Gross area: 1,860 sqm
Investor: City Municipality of Novo mesto
Overall investment: €2,200,000.00
Type of commission: Competition
Web site: https://jerebinbudja.si/

Photographs:
Blaž Budja

PLEČNIK MEDAL in the category of public space

Footbridge in Irča vas - Jury's report

Georg Simmel said: "The people who first built a path between two places performed one of the greatest human achievements. The achievement reaches its zenith in the construction of a bridge."

The footbridge for pedestrians and cyclists in Irča vas connects the urban edge of the town with the settlements on the right bank of the river Krka. There is a respectfulness to its siting, it forges a close relationship with the river, and it achieves an equilibrium in which the new structure complements the natural environment. The creative team of architects, landscape architects, and engineers transcended the notion of an engineering structure restricted by the breadth of the river.

The expectation of the footbridge's merely connecting the two river banks and being confined between either anchor point in the banks is exceeded in its expansion into a path spanning across the river. Notwithstanding the exceptional feat of engineering, the footbridge is more akin to a landscaping gesture starting already deeply in the landscape by the river before its overland bend gently segues into the curvature of the structure bowing over the river, terminating in a minor square in an urban part of the town. The footbridge, defined by the necessities of statics, and the landscape are brought together into an inseparable whole.

The footbridge in Irča vas is elementarily simple; due to its gentle presence, it appears to levitate above the water. The Jury has recognised it as a superior work successfully integrating poetics and engineering. The structure is slender and masterfully expresses its airiness. The anchors at the river banks are carefully designed and subordinate to the impression conveyed by the landscaping gesture.

The footbridge represents a solid foundation for the future development of the space as it transcends its primary function in order to become a significant landscape element. Simultaneously, it claims its place in the tradition of Plečnik's treatment of bridges as urban spaces, squares, and tree lanes. The footbridge in Irča vas is primarily a path across the river.

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