Pedestrian Bridges – Ramps, Walkways, Structures
Andreas Keil
Edition Detail £37
You can always rely on the Germans for the presentation of cold, crisp facts. The language demands it – they can’t help but be precise. It’s why they’ve got so many great philosophers. So when the Detail series decide to do a book on pedestrian bridges, they don’t disappoint. Keil’s book starts with a breakdown of functional requirements, engineering physics, statics and dynamics – even economic comparisons. Chapters on materials, design, construction and finishing are approached with similar analytical rigour. The writing style can be dry, but copious technical drawings and high quality photography enliven the pages. Perhaps inadvertently, the book stops being about the cold communication of how you get from A to B and more about how nice it might be perhaps to linger in the liminal zone between them. You begin to read the bridges as a response to the context in which they are placed, and at this point, like soldiers walking over one without breaking step, this book begins to resonate.