The leaning arch
One white arc holding the curve on its strings.
Basotxerri — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Basotxerri — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Basotxerri — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Basotxerri — CC BY-SA 4.0
Calatrava's glass deck: theoretically lovely, practically a rain-skid — in a city raining a third of the year. The council laid anti-slip carpet; the architect sued for 'mutilation' — and in essence lost. The bridge stays beautiful, the carpet practical, the tale a lesson in art meeting weather.
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Zubizuri — "white bridge" in Basque — is Calatrava's leaning arch over the Nervión: a single tilted white arc suspending a curved footdeck on cables like the modern city's harp strings, its glass floor the cause of Bilbao's most famous small war (rain made it a skid — the city carpeted it, the architect raged worldwide). It is the obligatory photo passage between old town and Guggenheim: Isozaki's towers gate the hills from its foot, and the river walk reaches the titanium in ten minutes. Its five crossing minutes make lasting pictures — the blue-lit arch over the night river the finest of them.
One white arc holding the curve on its strings.
Blue light over the Nervión — Bilbao's night shot.
Campo de Volantín, 48007 Bilbao