編譯／蘇琨峰　　圖文／Sturgess Architecture

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

今年5月在加拿大賈斯伯國家公園（Jasper National Park）的森瓦普塔峽谷（Sunwapta Valley）山壁上，出現了一座長達450公尺的冰河空橋（Glacier Skywalk）。冰河空橋如同一路沿著山勢嵌進山壁中的作品，未端處更設計了一處由強化玻璃及鋼架組成的透明曲線懸臂式觀景台。如果遊客膽量夠大的話，便可站在透明的觀景台上一覽森瓦普塔峽谷及阿薩巴斯卡冰河（Athabasca Glacier）的美景。更令人覺得壯觀的是，這處冰原地剛好也是著名的大陸分水嶺（Continental Divide），將冰原導向了太平洋、大西洋及北冰洋。

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

冰河空橋設計師Jeremy Sturgess，同時也是Sturgess Architecture建築事務所的負責人表示，冰河空橋的造型就像是蜿蜒在山壁上的有機體型建築作品，而冰河空橋不僅成了當地一處顯目的建築標的物，也提供了遊客另類的體驗大自然風光的機會。

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

這處呈現曲線狀懸臂式的冰河空橋，特別利用透明強化玻璃做為懸空處的地板，讓遊客能直視腳下深不見底的森瓦普塔峽谷。在科技的幫助下並利用張力纜線與空橋下方壓力筒互相平衡的原理來設計懸臂樑式空橋，減少傳統上在橋塔設計時使用太多纜線等等的問題，不但具實用性，更進而增加設計上的美感。

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

【延伸閱讀】
Sturgess Architecture事務所
www.sturgessarchitecture.com

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Profile

蘇琨峰／Andre

一隻喜愛新事物也對舊事物固執的牡羊。台北工專土木工程科、雲林科技大學營建工程結構組畢業，工作後決定離職前往澳洲再度充實自己並一圓留學夢，畢業於墨爾本大學經濟與商業研究所，主修商業與資訊管理。喜歡看建築、旅行探索、研究攝影、愛打網球、沉溺爵士樂當了爵士樂團薩克斯風手。目前為《欣建築／國際脈動》編譯、文字記者、辦理欣建築相關活動及國際領隊。

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

The Glacier Skywalk is a 1475-foot long (450-metre) interpretive walk carved and folded into the mountainous landscape of Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies. The corten steel and glass structure cantilevers outward, overlooking the Sunwapta Valley and facing the Athabasca Glacier situated in an icefield straddling the Continental Divide where the North American watersheds diverge to the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Arctic Oceans.

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

The walkway is based on the concept of cropping out from the landscape, creating an experience of a natural extension of the land. “We wanted to give people the opportunity to get out of their car, to experience this incredible landscape in a way that would provide a cerebral connection to our changing natural environment,” explains Jeremy Sturgess who heads Sturgess Architecture. “The design is founded in the idea of a mountainside outcropping, to exist as an organic extension of the landscape.”

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

The parabola cantilever, with a glass floor of tempered and heat-strengthened glass, reveals an unobstructed view below. The cantilever is the result of an engineering technique taking advantage of a balance formed by opposing tension and compression members and thereby eliminating the need for a more traditional superstructure of pylons and cables above the outlook.

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

“The apparent eccentricity of supporting the walkway on only one side is resolved by the opposing actions of a tensile cable support and a compression tube mounted below it; both working in combination with the curvature of the walkway,” says Simon Brown, Associate at the structural engineering firm Read Jones Christoffersen Consulting Engineers.

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

Corten steel was selected for its weathering properties and the relationship to the changing mountain face that it represents. The materiality of the outcropped steel will age. The size of the Athabasca Glacier will alter. Both, capturing a capacity to mark time with change. The Glacier Skywalk will open to the public in May, 2014.

圖片說明：Photographer:Robert Lemermeyer

【More Information】
Sturgess Architecture
www.sturgessarchitecture.com

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Profile
Andre

A male Aries, loves learning new things and being nostalgic to old things. Academic background: Bachelor of Construction Engineering Department at National YunTech University, Taiwan and Diploma of Graduate School of Business and Economics at University of Melbourne. With character of a little introvert, addicting to architecture, photography, tennis, Jazz music and saxophone and being the translator of Xin Architecture/ International, reporter, holder of activities and international tour leader.

[Sturgess Architecture] 冰河空橋 Glacier Skywalk

[Sturgess Architecture] 冰河空橋　Glacier Skywalk