ZHA comes joint second, with special mention for UK firm Knight
UNStudio has beaten 17 practices including Zaha Hadid Architects to land the job of designing a new traffic bridge over the Danube in southern Budapest.
ZHA came joint second with French practice Lavigne & Ch茅ron Architects.
Three further entries were singled out by the judges for a special mention including one by UK practice Knight Architects.
UNStudio鈥檚 220m-long two-pylon stayed girder design was praised for preserving an unobstructed view.
The jury said it was the 鈥渟tatically soundest proposal, which is also aesthetically pleasing, graceful, slim, well-balanced and one that best fits with the cityscape鈥�.
With three traffic lanes in each direction and the possibility of a tram line, it is predicted to reduce the traffic load on congested inner city bridges by 55,000 cars a day.
Bal谩zs F眉rjes, government commissioner for major Budapest developments and president of the jury, said that the board had faced an 鈥渆mbarrassment of riches鈥� with excellent designs submitted.
He said that the construction of the bridge would finally fulfill an idea for a crossing that dated back to 1985. Later, in 1992, a design competition was held which came to nothing. Still later, the potential bridge also featured in the transport system development plan in 2001, he added.
He was confident that UNStudio鈥檚 project would be built, saying a contract would be signed with the successful team, followed by the creation of detailed designs and the obtaining of permits. The process is expected to take two to three years.
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