A book that focuses on the specifically architectural aspects of bridges, examining the most famous examples from waterfront cities in Italy and Europe.
[The bridges of the capitals of Europe. From the Golden Horn to the Seine] The functional aspect of bridges, undoubtedly the main priority behind their construction, has often overshadowed their purely architectural nature, their symbolic and aesthetic character and their different, significant urban implications. The essays gathered in this volume – some of which are published in English and in French – are by authors from different disciplinary backgrounds. Without overlooking the functional necessity that leads to the construction of bridges, they illustrate the more specifically architectural aspects, the construction processes and forms, the symbolism, the economic and urban effects and iconographic impact.
The book also examines certain famous waterfront cities and their bridges: from the medieval bridges of France to the construction by Michelangelo of Ponte Santa Maria (today’s Ponte Rotto) in Rome; the bridge of Castel Sant’Angelo to London Bridge; the example of Verona between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to the bridges of Constantinople; the Charles Bridge of Prague to the Notre-Dame Bridge in Paris.
Theoretical reflections are also investigated, from the studies of Leonardo on the movements of water to the treatises on building practices in the Renaissance and Baroque eras.