February 2019 - The Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion, designed by Zaha Hadid Architects, was constructed for the Expo 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain.
The bridge and multi-level exhibition area is organized around 4 main elements, or “pods,” that perform both as structural elements and as spatial enclosures.
These steel lattice-covered pods intersect and brace each other, allowing the over 7,000 tons of steel that make up the bridge to be distributed across four trusses instead of a singular element.
The Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion is the first covered bridge in Spain while also boasting the country’s deepest pile foundations at over 68 meters. 62,500 steel structural elements were prefabricated at nine metal fabrication workshops and subsequently assembled on site.
Photos: Luke Hayes
