The Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge 1988

The Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge by Siah Armajani seems to be crafted from steel, with this repeated pattern of triangles forming something akin to a flattened geodesic dome, all rendered in a pristine white. Thinking about building a bridge, or drawing one, is a lesson in structure, in thinking how each element connects to another. The negative space, the open parts, is just as important as the load-bearing beams. The bridge has a simple elegance, its colour adding to this effect, and its geometric structure giving it a modernist twist. It reminds me of the work of Sol LeWitt. LeWitt's structures were mathematical, precise, and built on simple modules. And like LeWitt, Armajani's bridge shows that art can be found in the most unexpected places, transforming the mundane into something beautiful, and suggesting that art isn't just something we look at, but something we experience.