ABSTRACT
Take a random city or highway anywhere in the world and you can hardly miss it; bridges are hot. The time that bridges were designed as mere functional objects is past. In the last two decades we have seen that bridges have become a trend-setting factor in the public realm. Politicians and policymakers want to make good cheer with beautiful bridges. Whether it is as a part of a new building location, a historical city center or out in the open landscape, bridges are seen more and more as symbols of culture and heritage. A noticeable trend in bridge design is the growing attention for the urban context or the landscape context. The beauty of the bridge design is taken beyond the architecture of the structure itself; society calls for bridges that are carefully integrated in the landscape or the urban fabric. The design can be subtle, it can be a beacon on the horizon and it can even be an iconic statement. What now is the role of the architect in the design process? In order for us to understand the current position of the architect in bridge design we must first go back in time to the antiquity.
