Amanda Pierre writes about an exhibit that displays bridges in stereoscopic glory . . . Bridge exhibit shows off engineering feats . . .

Swiss designers and their landmark works are featured in the display at Grinnell College. It’s been a long time since basic bridges were considered feats of engineering. But now, it’s not a stretch to consider some bridges feats of engineering because of their beauty. Consider the majestic, tight-rope-like displays of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York City, the Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston and other delightful spans that can be considered the landmarks of great cities. David Billington, a Princeton University professor of civil engineering and operations research, asks viewers to consider such specimens in an exhibit now at the Faulconer Gallery in Grinnell: “The Art of Structural Design: A Swiss Legacy.” Swiss designers have been behind some of the most impressive bridges in the United States, as well as some in their own country, such as the Sunniberg Bridge over the Landquart River Valley. Othmar Amman created the George Washington, Bronx-Whitestone and Verrazano Narrows bridges in New York City, all long-span steel bridges. Christian Menn constructed the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge in Boston. It is the widest cable-stayed bridge in the United States. Amman and Menn are part of the Swiss designer legacy because they studied under bridge-building masters Wilhelm Ritter and Pierre Lardy. Billington ranks all these men among “the most impressive group of structural artists in the 20th century.” The exhibit includes photos of the people and models of the bridges previously mentioned. The large and detailed three-dimensional models were crafted by Princeton students. Part of “The Art of Structural Design” has been engineered to entertain as an “interactive stereoscopic photography display.” In layman’s terms, it’s 3-D. A piece of reflective glass has been positioned so that when a viewer puts his or her nose up to it, photographs of some of the bridges appear with stunningly realistic detail.

The description of the exhibit sounds interesting. Taking stereoscopic 3D photos of architectural constructions is nothing new, in fact, it’s really the best way to preserve the sense of depth and reality of a bridge or building or natural formation in photography as regular common two-dimensional photography doesn’t quite catch the depth that a bridge or building needs to convey scale. Unfortunately, with very large construction you can’t just use the same stereocamera with a common 2-2 1/2 inch stereo base, you need to shoot a little or a lot hyper depending upon the size of the subject and the distance involved in order to create a sense of depth . . . this can cause some images to appear lilliputian so observing the 1/30 rule will help out. My understanding is that everything looks wonderful in this exhibit and the majesty of the achievements are truly recorded lifelike for viewers to see.