Bridge in Science Museum, London

A new exhibition tract in the Science Museum has as its theme the “challenge of material”. It was designed to demonstrate the range of materials used in architecture and the potential for exploiting their load-bearing capacity to the full. One section of the exhibition is dominated by the central bridge, which links two audio-visual spaces. There is an element of surprise attached to this structure: on stepping on to it, lights come on, various sounds can be heard, and images of people can be seen on monitors in the adjoining rooms. This animated display is operated by devices that register the changing tension in the 186 steel supporting cables, which have the thickness of piano wires. The 828 glass floor strips allow a blurred view of the storey below.