Olympic Arch, Torino, Italy



Architect
Hugh Dutton AssociƩs
Date Built
2006
Location
Lingotto
Description
The Torino Olympic Arch is a 69 metre high, 55 metre wide steel structure that today links the former Fiat factory at Lingotto with the former athletes village from the XX Winter Olympics.  The arch supports a 400 metre long pedestrian footbridge that curves above the railway tracks that carry trains into the centre of Torino.

The architects website says of the arch that, "At the beginning the idea of working on the arch came from looking at the parabolic arches of the wholesale Markets (located across the railway from Lingotto) - and, subsequently it was translated in a structure of high structural efficiency using a series of suspension cables that, not only hold up the deck, but also stabilize the arch and distribute the weight along its length, according to a structural mechanism similar to that of a bicycle wheel."

Sergio Champarino, as the Mayor of Turin, is quoted as saying of the arch that, "Every great event can be summed up by an emblem and a powerful symbol that identifies it.  Performing this function for Turin and the XX Winter Olympics is the imposing, futuristic red arch of the pedestrian bridge connecting Lingotto to the former general market.  It is a symbol that along with many others, changes the city skyline, but also stands for the larger process of renewal that the city has embarked on."