Veiled Crossing

2025 · Thun, Switzerland

A covered suspension bridge linking Thun’s train station and art museum. Filtering views of the city and the Alps. A New Pedestrian Bridge for Thun Instructors: Mark Cruvellier, Jennifer Birkeland Type: Option Studio Fall 2025 The pedestrian bridge links the two banks of Thun, connecting the Thun train station and the Kunstmuseum, effectively serving the purpose of a main gateway to both the museum and the city of Thun. By bridging these two nodes of transit and culture, the design creates a new, dynamic artery for the city. Drawing from the traditional Swiss covered bridges right across the site, the bridge employs a system of translucent panels that shelters while also inviting one to pause and gaze outward. For users traversing the bridge, views to the Alps, the Aare River, and the city are filtered and revealed, creating a cinematic sequence that changes with every step. The suspension structure creates a gentle curve that softly echoes the surrounding trees and the rooflines of Thun’s urban fabric, embedding the structure within its context. Structurally, the composition of a suspended structure of two stabilizing cables and one main cable naturally forms an inviting pitched space for pedestrians, connects to the historical context, prevents harm to the river ecosystem, and forms a light structural system. The lightness of the structure is carried on in the materiality, where semi-translucent glass panels both shade and amplify. At the access points from the train station, views are completely blocked, but slowly revealed at the peak. By day, it reflects the sky and weather. By night, it emits a soft, pervasive glow, transforming the structure into a beacon of warmth and a luminous public art piece for the city.