Padua's suspended catwalks star in an exhibition in Padua that tells their story

It will be the Paduan suspended footbridges, the Goito that connects via Goito to via Marco Polo, the Benetti on the Brenta between Torre and Cadoneghe and the one that connects Roncajette to Isola dell’Abbà, that will be the protagonists at Palazzo Angeli in Prato della Valle in Padua of an exhibition of unpublished photos and drawings that intends to tell their story with a look at the industrial reality of the postwar period, at the world of construction sites, carpentries and technical offices.

Entitled Ropes of Passage - The Suspended Walkways of the 1950s in Padua and organized by theAssociation "Romaro Archive. For a History of Twentieth-Century Metal Structures - Social Promotion Association," the exhibition will be held in Padua from Nov. 11 to Dec. 18, 2022 with free admission.

The exhibition makes use of unpublished archival materials, mostly drawings and photos but also correspondence, and develops a cognitive path from the point of view of the design, construction and assembly technique of metal suspended footbridges. It also intends to define the value of the works by delving into their technical-structural as well as sociocultural and urbanistic aspects, with a look at the industrial reality of Padua in the 1950s.

In those years, industrial development also involved Padua by transforming peripheral areas allocated to forms of agriculture to areas designated for construction to cope with the growth of urbanization. Padua was a city of waterways, and it was essential to provide bicycle and pedestrian crossings to connect the suburbs to the center and facilitate the movement of commuters who were not yet self-supported. The three footbridges thus represented an innovative, functional and, above all, inexpensive response to a problem the city was experiencing at that historical moment.

“The exhibition is aimed not only at those in the industry, but also at all those who in some way have enjoyed or simply seen the three unusual footbridges and want to know their history,” said Chiara Romaro, president of the Association, “those who are interested in the urban development of Padua in those years, to lovers of historical photographs, to students who want to learn about the different types of rope bridges (Tibetan, cable-stayed and suspended) and to those who want to know or remember the world of construction in that period.”

The initiative came about as a result of the December 2020 resolution of the city council with the attached report “Urgent safety work on the Goito Street footbridge,” which proposed the maintenance of the Goito footbridge only as a temporary safety measure “pending a radical intervention of complete replacement.” Although there were then assurances from the Department of Public Works that the replacement proposal would not be implemented, the footbridge after the safety work implemented in January 2021 still needs more extensive restoration.

“The exhibition,” Chiara Romaro concludes, “wants to raise awareness among citizens and professionals about the importance of maintenance work on these works, witnesses of Paduan engineering and the evolution of metal structures in post-World War II Italy, so as to consider them from a different perspective since they are fundamental for sustainable mobility.”

For info: https://funidipassaggio.archivioromaro.it/

Hours: Tuesday through Friday from 3 to 7 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 7 p.m. Closed Mondays.

Padua's suspended catwalks star in an exhibition in Padua that tells their story

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