2006.03.01

LEONARDO BRIDGE PROJECT WILL BE ON DISPLAY AT THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON, ENGLAND SEPTEMBER, 2006
www.universalleonardo.org

2006.03.01

LEONARDO BRIDGE PROJECT WILL BE ON DISPLAY AT THE CHICAGO MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY APRIL 15TH, 2006 THROUGH OCTOBER, 2006
www.mscichicago.org

2006.02.24

LEONARDO BRIDGE PROJECT ON DISPLAY AT THE MIAMI MUSEUM OF SCIENCE AND PLANETARIUM www.miamisci.org

2005.11.06

WALL STREET JOURNAL ARTICLE BY TRAVEL WRITER, JAN MORRIS

Click Here Large file will open in new window.

2005.01.13

A GLOBE-SPANNING TRIBUTE TO LEONARDO TO LOCATE SECOND BRIDGE IN TEXAS

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin, in Odessa, a component of The University of Texas system, makes plans to construct the second Leonardo Bridge Project in the world. A press conference announcing the project will be held at UTPB 10:30 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 25.

Italian artist, scientist, and Renaissance man Leonardo da Vinci designed a beautiful 720-foot bridge for Sultan Bejazet II one afternoon in 1502 to span the Golden Horn — an inlet of the Bosphorus River in what is present day Istanbul, Turkey. He never dreamed it would take 500 years for his pressed-bow designed bridge to be built. Nor, that its graceful symmetry would result in a global public art project creating a network of bridges, each a living tribute to his life. Inspired by the legacy of curiosity about the natural world left to us by this iconic creator, the Leonardo Bridge Project integrates art, architecture, natural sciences, history and mathematics, to inspire people, regardless of culture, with the awesome creative potential of the human mind.

Celebrated Norwegian artist, Vebjørn Sand, who built the first Leonardo Bridge outside Oslo, Norway, and guides the global Project, will attend the Texas news conference. A two-foot model of the bridge will be on display as part of the presentation for the media. His artistic imagination was captivated by the utter simplicity and eloquence of the design, inspiring his re-imagining of it as a place where “all pairs of opposites meet.” The Norwegian Transportation Ministry constructed the first bridge in 2001.

UT Permian Basin received a grant for construction of the Project. It is another public installation on the campus that graphically demonstrates the University’s commitment to the arts and sciences, and a tribute to Texans’ penchant to “think big.” In 2004, the University constructed a life-size Stonehenge replica (exact width and stone placement with 70 percent of the vertical height of the stones reaching 18 feet and weighing 20,000 to 40,000 pound each) to demonstrate how accurately ancient astronomers constructed methods of tracking the sun, stars and planets.

Leonardo envisioned his bridge constructed of stone as he indicated in a letter outlining his plans to the Turkish Sultan. The UTPB Project will be constructed in Texas limestone from Garden City, stone that is naturally embedded with a fossilized record of the Permian Basin.

The Leonardo Bridge Project melds art, through its symmetry and poetic power; and science, through its innovative engineering and mathematical principles. Seattle architect, David Hewitt, in discussing the Leonardo Bridge Project commented, “I consider myself a modernist and resist copying anything from the past. But this bridge intrigues me because it is like a brilliant passage of music, fresh with every new interpretation.”

Vebjørn Sand notes, “The traditions of the Renaissance may have lost their influence in recent years in American culture. However, we forget the story of European history at our peril. The great mathematicians of Arabic civilizations contributed immeasurably to the success of the Italian Renaissance, clarifying Greek discoveries forgotten while northern Europe slept through the Dark Ages. Individuals create and recreate civilization on our planet. Remaining curious about eternal truth, beauty and meaning, as Leonardo showed us, is a way for it to flourish.”

The Leonardo Bridge Project has caught the imagination of the world media, inspiring articles in Wired Magazine, Time Magazine and the New York Times. It has been included in middle school textbooks on mathematics and design. It has also been adopted as a pet project of UNESCO’s “Bridge Schools for Peace.”

2001.11.01

500 Years After It Was Designed, Leonardo da Vinci's Bridge Goes UP!

Norwegian artist, Vebjørn Sand, had a vision. He would build the "Golden Horn" bridge Leonardo da Vinci designed in 1502 but never built. On October 31, 2001, the ambitious project was unveiled spanning E-18, the highway between Oslo, Norway and Sweden in the township of Ås. It will stand as an historical monument to both the master artist of the Renaissance and the persistence of Norway's hottest contemporary artist.        More...

For further information please contact:
Melinda Iverson
International Press Relations
The Leonardo Project
206-285-7101/fax 206-285-7208
email: brickfish@msn.com

2002.05.17
Welcome to the newly designed Vebjørn Sand site. We hope your experience isan inspiring one. Please let us know what you think. Visit often to keep up with fast-moving events on the Global Leonardo da Vinci Bridge Project.

2002.05.17
Leonardo's bridge in the US.Three sites are being considered in North America for the next Leonardo Project. We will have news soon about those sites. After North America the continents of Australia and Asia beckon but there's a lot of work to do. Join the Leonardo Project Team and get email updates about our progress. brickfish@msn.com