|   A bridge with a hearth   |

The great urban infrastructures, such as expressways, parking lots, interchanging nodes and railway stations, play a fundamental role in the design process of the Contemporary City, connoting large areas of the new urban landscape. Unfortunately, in some cases, the progressive urbanisation is so rapid that they turn to become real ruptures of the territory, extremely fast and impassable. This process of discretization of the urban settlement progressively generates “isolated islands”, poorly integrated urban fragments unable to organically relate to the urban context, often characterised by difficult living conditions.

For a long time, the archetype of the inhabited bridge has represented a great human challenge, targeted to find a balance between two opposing elements. On one hand, the idea of the bridge has always symbolised the value of a linking and unifying element, able to physically connect two different edges, reminding us of the idea of movement and dynamism. On the other hand, the residential settlement defines a static and highly symbolic environment that well represents the sense of belonging of the human being to the place where they live.

Starting from this traditional archetype, the project focuses on its role of linking elements, proposing a connection between the social and the urban dimensions. The first layer, in fact, is completely public, and its main aim is to link the two targeted areas (Sinnae 3 and Sinnae 4) bordering the nearby infrastructure. The upper levels are dedicated to the residential function, where the ideal action of the bridge is played by the public spaces that enhance the relationship and the meeting among the neighbours. A real connector able to modify the paradigm of living, breaking boundaries, easing the socialisation among people, and promoting the strengthening of a new community.