The Krkonoš Mountains will have new footbridges; they were built by architecture students
Visitors to the Krkonoš Mountains will safely and dry-footedly cross mountain streams and ditches. Six new footbridges were designed and manufactured by student teams from the Faculty of Architecture at the Czech Technical University in Prague. On Tuesday, June 20, they were presented to the public with the participation of a project partner from the Krkonošsko National Park Administration. The footbridges will be on display in front of the faculty building throughout the summer, and they will start serving in the mountains in the spring of next year.
Student footbridges first appeared in the highest Czech mountains in 2019. At that time, the Krkonoš administrators identified locations where the wooden structures of old footbridges were reaching the end of their lifespan. Instead of a typical replacement of aging wooden elements, the installation of five imaginative structures resulted from the ingenuity of the students. The collection of footbridges and huts that were implemented a year later received the 2022 Public Investor Achievement award at the Krkonoš Architecture Prize.
The design-build project, in which ideas are brought to realization by the students themselves, involves a total of 47 students from the Institute of Design II at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University. "The Krkonošsko National Park Administration cares not only for the unique mountain ecosystems but also long-term attends to quality architecture in its territory. Therefore, I am very pleased that the collaboration with the Krkonošsko National Park continues and that our students could translate their designs from paper to real construction. The footbridges were designed to be beautiful, blend into the unique natural environment, be easily dismantled, require no complicated maintenance, and withstand extreme climate conditions," says Dalibor Hlaváček, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University.
Part of the work on the project also involves negotiations with suppliers, budget preparation, organizing the entire construction process, and promotion. The originality of the final solutions is suggested by the names the students gave to their footbridges:
210 bpm as a reminder of the high heart rate experienced by the team from the Seho-Poláček atelier while traversing the avalanche-prone slope on their way from the Obří Důl to Sněžka.
Hranolky, named by the male and female students of the Hlaváček-Čeněk-Minarovič atelier for their bridge over the Pudlava River. It will be located on the blue tourist trail leading from Špindlerův Mlýn to Labská bouda.
Kokrháč, named after the historical name of the nearby mountain Kotel. The team from the Kordovský-Vrbata atelier worked on the bridge over Boudecký Potok on Krakonoš's path connecting Horní Mísečky and Dvoračky.
Lávka Klínovvka over the Klínový Potok riverbed, whose two letters, encoded in the name by the Valouch-Stibral atelier team, refer to the main supporting element of the footbridge, the Vierendeel beam.
From wood or from steel? The Svatopetrská footbridge team from the Mádr atelier tested material concepts for a long time. The exotic wood azobé won for the footbridge Fošínka, which will significantly extend the lifespan of the deck. A second team proposed a footbridge over Friesova strouha, at the confluence with Klínový Potok near Sloní vodopád, so modest that it will hardly be visible, simply Nelávka.
The footbridges are designed for safe operation, and their material solutions meet demanding climatic conditions. Most of the footbridges can be transported to the site without the use of conventional heavy machinery. "After the five initial footbridges, followed by the huts, this year's sixth set of footbridges is further confirmation of the good cooperation between the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University and the Krkonošsko National Park Administration. We are pleased to contribute to the educational concept of design-build while also addressing the current need for the renewal of tourist infrastructure," says the director of the KRNAP Administration, Robin Böhnisch.
All design-build projects of the Institute of Design II at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University are published on the website of the 1:1 lab platform.
Student footbridges first appeared in the highest Czech mountains in 2019. At that time, the Krkonoš administrators identified locations where the wooden structures of old footbridges were reaching the end of their lifespan. Instead of a typical replacement of aging wooden elements, the installation of five imaginative structures resulted from the ingenuity of the students. The collection of footbridges and huts that were implemented a year later received the 2022 Public Investor Achievement award at the Krkonoš Architecture Prize.
The design-build project, in which ideas are brought to realization by the students themselves, involves a total of 47 students from the Institute of Design II at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University. "The Krkonošsko National Park Administration cares not only for the unique mountain ecosystems but also long-term attends to quality architecture in its territory. Therefore, I am very pleased that the collaboration with the Krkonošsko National Park continues and that our students could translate their designs from paper to real construction. The footbridges were designed to be beautiful, blend into the unique natural environment, be easily dismantled, require no complicated maintenance, and withstand extreme climate conditions," says Dalibor Hlaváček, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University.
Part of the work on the project also involves negotiations with suppliers, budget preparation, organizing the entire construction process, and promotion. The originality of the final solutions is suggested by the names the students gave to their footbridges:
210 bpm as a reminder of the high heart rate experienced by the team from the Seho-Poláček atelier while traversing the avalanche-prone slope on their way from the Obří Důl to Sněžka.
Hranolky, named by the male and female students of the Hlaváček-Čeněk-Minarovič atelier for their bridge over the Pudlava River. It will be located on the blue tourist trail leading from Špindlerův Mlýn to Labská bouda.
Kokrháč, named after the historical name of the nearby mountain Kotel. The team from the Kordovský-Vrbata atelier worked on the bridge over Boudecký Potok on Krakonoš's path connecting Horní Mísečky and Dvoračky.
Lávka Klínovvka over the Klínový Potok riverbed, whose two letters, encoded in the name by the Valouch-Stibral atelier team, refer to the main supporting element of the footbridge, the Vierendeel beam.
From wood or from steel? The Svatopetrská footbridge team from the Mádr atelier tested material concepts for a long time. The exotic wood azobé won for the footbridge Fošínka, which will significantly extend the lifespan of the deck. A second team proposed a footbridge over Friesova strouha, at the confluence with Klínový Potok near Sloní vodopád, so modest that it will hardly be visible, simply Nelávka.
The footbridges are designed for safe operation, and their material solutions meet demanding climatic conditions. Most of the footbridges can be transported to the site without the use of conventional heavy machinery. "After the five initial footbridges, followed by the huts, this year's sixth set of footbridges is further confirmation of the good cooperation between the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University and the Krkonošsko National Park Administration. We are pleased to contribute to the educational concept of design-build while also addressing the current need for the renewal of tourist infrastructure," says the director of the KRNAP Administration, Robin Böhnisch.
All design-build projects of the Institute of Design II at the Faculty of Architecture of the Czech Technical University are published on the website of the 1:1 lab platform.
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