A bridge from the past to the future

(From the Leonardo Bridge Project) - Five hundred years later, he’s still the talk of the town.

The “Golden Horn Bridge,” designed in 1502 by Leonardo da Vinci for Sultan Bajazet II of Constantinople (now Istanbul), was never built. But now, thanks to Norwegian artist, Vebjørn Sand, the world can see a scale model of the bridge as Leonardo designed it. The 12-foot-long bridge model will be on exhibit and open to the public at the Miami Museum of Science from February 24, 2006, through mid-summer, before travelling to the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London.

Artist Sand worked with the Norwegian Public Roads Administration to build a pedestrian bridge based on Leonardo’s design. The scaled down wooden rendition opened to foot and bicycle traffic in the township of Ås, Norway in October, 2001.

Taffy Gould, a Miami native and Museum of Science Board Member, read of the original bridge and thought it the perfect way to span the space between the new Museum of Science and the Miami Art Museum, in Museum Park. “What better way to connect these two important institutions than by a bridge designed by the most famous scientist/artist of all time,” she asks. She will echo the enthusiastic support she has received to the Museum Park site planners. Everyone she’s talked to agrees: “This not only symbolizes the connection between Science and Art; it also would be a fabulous tourist attraction for Miami!”

Dr. Bert S. Hall from the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto will elaborate on da Vinci’s works and methodology in a lecture entitled, Thinking through Pictures: Exploring Invention in Leonardo da Vinci’s Technology.

The Leonardo Bridge Exhibit is brought to the Museum through the generous donation of sisters Taffy Gould and Lauren Gould. Free with paid admission.

Leonardo Bridge Project web site

Miami Museum of Science web site 

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