Extending the Landscape

The Glacier Skywalk, a 1475-foot long interpretive walk carved and folded into the mountainous landscape of Jasper National Park in the Canadian Rockies, takes an approach to architecture within the landscape that allows people to experience the surrounding environment in a way that is typically out of reach. The suspended corten steel and glass structure cantilevers outword, overlooking the valley, and extends the existing landscape allowing for mesmerizing views and a one-of-a-kind connection with mother nature.

From the architect. “We wanted to give people the opportunity to get out of their car, to experience this incredible landscape in a way that would provide a cerebral connection to our changing natural environment,” explains Jeremy Sturgess who heads Sturgess Architecture. “The design is founded in the idea of a mountainside outcropping, to exist as an organic extension of the landscape.”

From the engineer. “The apparent eccentricity of supporting the walkway on only one side is resolved by the opposing actions of a tensile cable support and a compression tube mounted below it; both working in combination with the curvature of the walkway,” says Simon Brown, Associate at the structural engineering firm Read Jones Christoffersen Consulting Engineers.

Read the full article: http://www.archdaily.com/505500/glacier-skywalk