GYMNASIUM BRIDGE
South Bronx, NY, United States 1977
Description +
PROGRAM: gymnasium, community center, recreational facilities, meeting spaces
STATUS: in design
The Gymnasium Bridge is a hybrid building synthesized as a special strategy for generating positive economic and physical effects. The bridge condenses the activities of meeting, physical recreation, and work into one structure that simultaneously forms a bridge from the community to the park on Randall’s Island.
Along the bridge, community members participate in competitive sports and physical activities organized according to a normal work day with wages. The bridge becomes a vehicle through which unemployed and struggling individuals can reenter society, become accustomed to a normal workday, earn a living, and help gain strength to develop their individual potential. It is a metaphorical bridge to inclusion in society.
The form of the architecture is a series of bridges over bridges. The small entrance bridges at each end of the main span preserve the view down Brook Street to the canal, and from Randall’s Island up Brook Street. The main span is aligned with this axis and is crossed by a fourth and highest bridge. In water rather than over water, this bridge acts as a structural pivot from which the turnbridge portion of the main span rotates to allow future ship passage in the waterway.
The Gymnasium Bridge was honored in 1978 with a Progressive Architecture Award, presented by Richard Meier, head of the awards jury.
