The Vlasmarktbrug designed by studio JPLX is a footbridge that enshrines itself in the renovation of the banks and public space alongside the River Dender. The bascule bridge acts as a hinge that connects both sides of the river.

The new lift-bridge that Atelier JPLX designed for this site is no straightforward piece of engineering. On the contrary, the laborious collaboration with the experts involved was a good example of the unpragmatic and evocative nature of this undertaking. However, the ultimate result is ingenious and above all expressive too.

Fine cables pull an equilateral triangle off balance, thus indicating the two basic positions of the honeycomb in the side-pieces. With its massiveness and basic geometry, the construction avoids any association with today’s computer-controlled engineering aesthetics. The emphatically colossal forms, the amiable swinging back and forth and the reins that keep everything in the right place are more reminiscent of Ros Beiaard, the legendary giant horse that symbolises the region of Dendermonde.

This text is based on an article by Aglaée Degros, and one by Dirk Somers, published in Architecture Review Flanders N°10. Radical Commonplaces. European Architectures from Flanders.