Dream
BridgesTraumbrücken
by Wolfdietrich Ziesel
Springer-Verlag, Wien, New York, NY, 2004
247 pp., illus. Trade, €36,45
ISBN: 3-211-21269-8.
Reviewed by Rob Harle (Australia)
harle@dodo.com.au
This book is both inspiring and delightful.
All text is written in both English and
German. "A voice crying in the wilderness"
is a phrase used to describe the passion
and vision of Wolfdietrich Ziesel. The
wilderness alluded to is the impoverished
emptiness of postmodernism driven by "turbo-capitalism".
Whilst the subject of the book is bridges,
the book is really about dreams, ". .
. it is a compilation of thoughts about
desires and dreams relating to bridges"
(p. 9). It is about the state of the built
environment and the quality of
life associated with, and in turn influenced
by, the integrity of architects,
engineers, planners, and construction
company executives. Ziesel argues (p.
12) as does Jörg Schlaich (p. 54-59)
that this integrity leaves much to be
desired in our contemporary society.
Schlaich also stresses, quite forcefully,
that the dramatic increase in technologies,
which should engender innovation and an
exquisitely built environment, has done
just the opposite. Technology, especially
computer design applications, has the
potential to liberate or enslave a designers
imagination. The elimination of the engagement
of extreme creative efforts, by allowing
computer software to take over, as it
were, is a recipe for a bland, uninspired
soul-less built environment.
Dream Bridges is lavishly illustrated
with sketches, engineering drawings and
photographs, both colour and black &
white. There are six essays, including
one by Ziesel himself; all are inspiring
and challenging. The first essayDreaming
about Bridges-Dream Bridges by Ziesel
explains his attitude to design, and his
passion for all things bridges, both metaphorically
and literally. Wolfdietrich Ziesel is
Professor and Director of the Institute
for Statics and Theory of Structures at
the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna.
Günter Feuersteins essayWhat
is Truth? discusses the notion of
truth to materials and truth of appearances.
He believes Ziesels work, ". . .
stands for a new truth, a new beauty,
and therefore a new transcendence in building,
without his being doctrinaire or puritanical"
(p. 23). Schlaich inWolfdietrich
Ziesel-A Voice Crying in the Wilderness,
as already mentioned, challenges contemporary
architects and engineers and the way they
are trained, suggesting alternative methods.
Monika Gentners essaySomewhere
over the Rainbow uses examples from
literature to help us understand the importance
of bridges, not so much in their literal
structural sense but in their metaphorical
imaginative power. The architects Brell,
Cokcan inPedestrian Bridge of
the Golden Horn discuss the favourable
influence of Ziesels teaching, "He
taught us not just to dream our architecture,
but to live it" (p. 184). Finally, Otto
Kapfingers essayThe Art
of Civil Engineering-An Unknown Species
in Austria? comments quite critically
on the state of the built environment
in Austria, including historical examples
and architectures relationship with
technology.
The book is mostly set in Austria, Ziesels
homeland, and most of the structures are
from this part of Europe. When I started
the book, I wondered if this visionary
and globally aware designer/engineer would
mention the Harbour Bridge in Sydney,
Australiaarguably one of the greatest,
creative engineering feats of the twentieth
century. And, yes, indeed on page 16 there
is a mention of our beloved "Coathanger"
as we Ozzies like to call it. Many of
the great landmark bridges around the
world are mentioned throughout the course
of the book, giving considerable credibility
to Ziesels authority as a leading
innovative engineer.
The book has an excellent graphic layout
and would be at home on any coffee table,
though the book is far more serious than
just a "nice" production. There is no
Bibliography, which I think would have
been useful for students and researchers.
Some of the essays could have been longer
and perhaps a little more in-depth, especially
concerning a bridges relationship
to the two locations it connects. Although,
this aspect of the book is covered, to
a certain extent, in the text accompanying
the twenty or so "case studies" that intersperse
the essays.
This book is essential reading for all
built environment design students and
those professional architects and engineers
in practice at present who have the responsibility
of further despoiling our visual urban
landscape or perhaps improving
it. It book puts such designers "on notice"
to leave their egos at the office/studio
door and work co-operatively with each
other and the hapless public that has
to endure and use their creations.