When is a bridge more than a bridge?
When it’s an “open table for possibilities.”
That’s how Gilles Guyot, OMA project manager, describes the newly open Simone Veil Bridge in the French port city of Bordeaux. The structure accommodates vehicles, but also serves as a venue for community events.
The bridge stretches 549 meters across the River Garonne, connecting the cities of Floirac on the right bank, with its public amenities and sculptural elements, to Bordeaux and Bègles on the left bank, where green spaces are seamlessly integrated into the urban landscape, including the repurposing of a former highway.
The modest structure provides lanes for cars, public transportation, and bicycles, with the most significant portion dedicated to foot traffic. There’s also a large section reserved for leisurely activities such as farmers' markets, art fairs, bicycle rallies, car club meetings, and festivals. In this way, the Simone Veil Bridge is not just a passageway but a bustling marketplace, like Venice’s Rialto Bridge, which is lined with shops on both sides, and the Galata Bridge in Istanbul which features cafes and restaurants along the lower deck. Unlike those bridges, however, the Simone Veil Bridge doesn’t attempt to make a grand structural statement. Its design is “anti-iconic,” as OMA partner Chris van Duijn puts it.
“The bridge is for the people, not for connoisseurs,” says Rem Koolhaas, OMA partner.
For something more visually striking, there’s still the nearby Jacques Chaban-Delmas Bridge, Europe’s highest lift bridge. Designed by French engineering firm BDI and inaugurated in 2013, the bridge features four prominent pylons that light up at night.
OMA wasn’t interested in making another showcase bridge.
“Rather than concentrating on form, the project focuses on performance,” Koolhaas says. “Instead of spending its budget on structural gymnastics, it doubles the width with a public space to serve and connect the two adjoining communities that so far have not developed a strong identify.”
It embodies a hopeful vision for the metropolitan life of Bordeaux, offering a new urban space that invites diverse uses and interactions.
“Our design for the Simone Veil Bridge is like a stage but without the theatre,” van Duijin says.
