Pollution-eating bridge

Spanish architecture firm BCQ plans to revamp the Sarajevo bridge in Barcelona and, along with using photocatalytic concrete, it will also add plant walls to the verdant and clean-air atmosphere of the bridge, as well as photo-luminescent paint on the pavements, which will glow at night like Studio Roosegaarde’s painted roads. Solar panels will also be installed to power the LED lights along the bridge. ‘[The redesign] enables better interaction between pedestrians and vehicles, provides the space with vegetated arcades and changes the image of the bridge to distinguish it as one of the gates of Barcelona,’ says BCQ.

The Big Picture: Architects are taking on Whole-system Thinking in their designs to create solutions to modern urban problems.