Shaped by its industrial past, this island of Nantes revealed itself as an ideal starting point to the yearly competition “Build with steel”.
The bridge links two key part of the city that have until now been separated by the river; the city center and its future extension: the island. Spread on 267m from one side of the river to the other, the bridge rises 50m above the water. Thus the five arches are creating a new skyline, a visible symbol from the actual city center.
The “Living Machine” is mixing various equipment such as an hotel, a restaurant, shops, exhibition space, a sport center, while the housing is spread in the arches providing another 6500m², an area equivalent to the deck .The urban machine is a symbolic gate toward the city center one hand, toward the estuary one the other hand.