Archaeology and nature: hyblean cultural landscape and territorial ...

Channel under the bridge. The bridge is also situated near a redevelopment area which will become a park
and is connected, through a cycle-pedestrian way, up to the Park “XXV Aprile” sited in the centre of Mirano.
Meaning: the bridge, meant as a crossing of the channel by the road, has been interpreted as an element of
the landscape with its own role and identity but at the same time it is part of it through the connection
between the elements present in the context. To find out the role that the bridge should have in this context,
we have analysed the landscape, isolating some elements in order to discover the mechanisms which
regulate their connections. We have imagined what impact the structure could have and from which point of
view it was better to view it. The result of these studies has led to the insertion of the bridge between the
banks, where there are already existing strips of green (poplars, small woods) near the bank, so that the
sight of it from far away makes its dimensions appropriate to the context. As one approaches the bridge,
gradually descending the banks, exactly when the bridge is showing its real and unavoidable dimensions,
one’s attention is drawn towards a green area near the motorway which works both as a mitigation of the
motorway itself and as a facilities area for rest and leisure. It also includes a small refuse which will be
renovate. The bridge is also inserted in its context according to the following consideration: there is a daylight
landscape which we are used to taking into account according to our cultural dimension, however there is
also a night landscape to which little attention has been drawn especially those structures which are a
reference point for the community, such as bridges. In a certain context, the visibility of the bridge at night
contributes to create an extended landscape portion which can be coherent with the daylight view,
depending on the artificial lightning. During daylight, the movement of the metallic bars, perceptible as an
alternation of recess and protrusion, creates a play of light and shadow that gives depth to the front, reducing
the visual impact. Even from the very first planning phases, the depth effect was kept also in the night-time
view. Just like in the negative of a picture, during the night the play of light and shadow has been achieved
bringing out recesses and protrusions through lights put inside the many inclined bars which make the front
of the bridge. The artificial light emphasizes the presence of the bridge in the dark background of the night,
creating a recognizable reference point in the same way as it happens during the day.
Results:
a) Interpretation of the means of transport solution:
Clearing of the barrier given by the Taglio Channel, so as to have a transportation continuity thanks to the
new infrastructure “Passante of Mestre”.
b) Interpretation of the territorial context
The features of the bridge are connected to its functions which is both the crossing of the Taglio Channel
and a reference point for the continuity of the road network. It has been thought that the perception of
motorway drivers, given their speed and consequently lack of attention to the landscape, should have been
of a more abstract sort: the crossing between the roads of the Passante and the Channel is a clear sign
perceptible even at speed, thanks to the curves of the extrados of the girders. The plan has also taken into
account the night landscape through the artificial light.
c) Added value
i) The lightning of the bridge has been taken into consideration as a form of night landscape continuity.
ii) Keeping of the road continuity under the bridge and connection of two homogenous functional areas.
iii) Concealing of the traffic in relation to the visibility of the bridge.
iv) Bridge visibility due to its proximity to the park, whereas the traffic will be hidden by the structure’s height.
v) Arrangement of the residual areas due to the achievement of the new road and of the conditions for the
creation of a park.
3. An indicator list of conceptual quality
From the reading of the relationship between the work and the context which are applied to a wide number of
road infrastructures, it is possible to take out those themes which have contributed to the creation of added
value and make a list of some indicators of general validity.
In the same way as in the procedure for the writing of the SIA (Study of Environmental Impact) where there
are some checklists proposed as questions, here it is a checklist with the transposition of added values into
arguments which can be treated also in other planning cases. The indicators have then been grouped
together taking away the repetitions, in terms of shape, function and meaning. Of course, the checklist below
does not exhaust all the possibilities for the creation of added value, however it can be considered as a
reference point for the checking of the plan external quality.
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