Amsterdam’s MX3D-printed bridge, designed by Joris Laarman Lab in collaboration with ARUP, has been awarded the STARTS Prize 2018. The STARTS Prize recognizes innovative projects built along interdisciplinary principles combining art, science and technology.
Crossing Amsterdam’s Oudezijds Achterburgwal, the stainless steel pedestrian bridge is approximately forty feet in length and over twenty feet wide.
The STARTS Prize jury primarily cited two features of the bridge as worthy of merit. Equipped with a sensor network, the pedestrian bridge continually collects data tracking usage patterns and shifts in structural integrity. According to the jury, the bridge “defines data-driven algorithmic methods for evaluating the safety of the bridge and enabling the bridge to interpret its environment.”
According to the STARTS Prize Jury, the project also has sweeping implications for European urbanism. Mathew Vola of Arup describes MX3D as applying “robotic construction techniques” that “open up a whole new dialogue in terms of what the built environment may look like in the future.” In short, robotic construction techniques could lead to a proliferation of publicly accessible high design infrastructural projects.
The awards ceremony for the prize will be held on September 7, 2018.
