International Ideas Competition for the Bering Strait Project: Interconnection & Communication with | Ilario Tassone

System of connection between the two continents. The particular geographic position, very near to the North Pole, in which the climatic conditions are really rigid for a long period of the year, make this place uncontaminated and extremely natural . A place in which nature is shown under many appearances and shapes, starting from the spectacular colors of the sky in the boreal dawn to the presence of gigantic ice masses going through the strait, pushed by the currents, that makes perceive the extraordinary beauty of a landscape in continuous motion and transformation where the physical limit of the coast is indefinite too, and changes during the seasons when ices dissolve. Thinking about crossing a loaded landscape so incredibly nice in thus extreme climatic conditions, by a bridge, seemed to be a improponibile hypothesis because it would have destroyed the landscape , cancelling its magic. From this condition the choice to connect the two continents with an undersea tunnel. The proposed tunnel is circular , with a diameter of beyond 30 m and a total length of 90 km, and has got two levels. The higher level contains two high speed railway lines, in the lower we have the highway tracing. Both two levels connect themselves with the two islands thanks to a system of metropolitan stations for the railway line and two underground parkings for the highway line. All the technological systems, concerning the evacuation of the smoke, the inspection premises, the conditioning system, necessary for the operation of the tunnel and the metropolitan stations, are placed in the horizontal courtyards inside the thickness of the walls.

The structure-bridge between the two islands. The design expresses the desire to concentrate all the activities required by the notice within a single large architectural mark, maintaining the natural state of the two islands. Designed as an infrastructure project, the sculpture can be seen as a landmark in the landscape of the Strait of Bering with a circular shape that unites the two islands almost in a gesture of embrace. The plan expresses the desire to concentrate all inside the participations demands from the ban of an only great architectonic sign, maintaining the state natural of the two islands. Thought as a infrastructure-sculpture, the plan is shaped like a landmark in the landscape of the Bering Strait with a circular form that joins the two islands, like the gesture of embracing. A structure that wants to transmit a strong sense of connection and peace between the two continents. High 200 m and with a basement of 100m, the plan develops in plant by following a circular course and extending itself for approximately 8 km for ¾ of circle.

The two Fronts of the project seem to be like a gigantic door on the sea, between the two islands, that imposes its presence to whom, coming from south, moves through it. Planned without a real solution of continuity, the two fronts are designed like a section of the bridge, showing the character of the interior space, and also indicating the architectonic scale with the presence of elements designed according to people utilities. The two sides spread to the outside and invite you to come in a space that is characterized by its complexity, strongly in contrast with the simplicity expressed by the outside in the global design. The complexity of the internal space leads to the complex urban space, typical of cities where bridges, roads, buildings, gardens and parks are the elements that most characterize the space. The inside is a real urban space that is developed linearly, in several kilometers, inside this infrastructural covering of extraordinary dimensions. The outer casing of the whole bridge is designed with a microperforated white leather that covers the entire structure, even hiding large openings which bring the light inside. The color white was chosen because it is perfectly integrated with the white snow and ice that characterize this unique landscape. As it was perennially covered by snow, the project is in harmony with the two islands that, for several months are covered by snow itself. In the coldest period, when the surface of the sea between the two islands is icy, it is possible to pass from an island to the other by feet. So Man itself, according to nature, in this passage from an island to other, completes and concludes the missing quarter of the circle concerned in the plan. It is a concept of union expressed by the plan with the grandeur of its dimensions and the researched perfection in the plant of circular form.

The peace park. It was chosen to place the park in the middle of the bridge, that is the point where the meridian passes and represents the International Line of Change of Date. The choice of this place for the park is particularly emblematic. It’s a symbolic space that gives the idea of a timeless place where past, present and future coexist. The park interprets and proposes the two islands with two systems of contrasted green terraced. A kind of transposition of the two islands within the bridge will create a space strongly characterized by the presence of a great emptiness for the whole height of the bridge,and will be full of green spaces, trees with high and low drum, walking trails, and little artificial lakes and waterfalls .

The metropolitan station. The underground line connecting the two continents relates with the system of the bridge in Little Diomede and Big Diomede. The underground route goes through the space below the two islands and intercepts, in correspondence with the volume of the deck above, a space characterized by large empty, hanging volumes linked by hanging bridges, and a system of spreading green placed on multiple floors. The space of the metropolitan station anticipates for some aspects the character of the entire project. In the lower level are placed the parkings for those arriving by car, and are directly connected to subway.

Bioclimatic principles in extreme conditions. The particular climatic conditions affecting the area influence the choices and structural design. The hard winter temperatures and the effects of solar radiation directly influence the design solution. “Utilizing the thermal mass”, a building having a regulated way of working during all the year long, an enormous amount of mass that during the summer period is able to accumulate heat useful for the winter period. The action of the solar beams is increased by the reflecting action of water in summer, and ice in winter. The accumulated heat from the thermal mass during the summer is released from the heat exchangers during the winter into the inner structures “of the ring”. The heat produced by human activities and transport systems’ hot fumes produced inside the tunnel is conveyed to the exchangers; this amount of free energy is used to reduce the amount of energy required for the needs of the whole structure. The thermal mass captures energy in the south ,while the north is isolated so to not disperse the heat and to resist the cold winds. The particular section of the closing walls in “thermal isolated cells allows the accumulation of energy and at the same time the isolation from the effects of the harsh winter. The passive energy systems, solar panels and photovoltaic panels, increase the supply of clean energy useful for the operation of the facility. The presence of the vegetation “ within the ring” regulates the relative humidity of atmospheres and allows to purify air present inside the open spaces, eliminating high percentages of Co2. The system of facility’s internal link (car sharing) uses electricity produced by photovoltaic panels, electric cars moving freely into the space without producing air pollution and noise.

An infrastructure that is architecture and landscape at the same time. A new symbolic sign of peace and reconnection, not only between two islands but also between two continents, two peoples, two cultures. An anthropic sign all over the natural landscape in which meanings, feelings and emotions are overlapped and interlaced. A plan in which reality and utopy merge and come together.