Zorrotzaurre Island Bilbao

The biggest development area in town – the new Zorrotzaurre Island Bilbao – has made a significant step forward with the opening of its first bridge. Now open for pedestrians it will be soon opened for car traffic – making possible to start the next phase with the excavations of the canal changing the now existing peninsula of Zorrotzaurre into a real island.  With the ground-breaking projects of a private hospital by Carlos Ferrater and the modern office building of the engineering company IDOM the largest development area is changing step by step.

Creative new industries are already attracting new visitors and workers to the area. The ambitious project has been slowed down by the economic crisis – but with little steps it is still progressing. The masterplan of Zaha Hadid, the result of the international competition has opened a very attractive vision of the future of this partly abandoned run-down former industrial area. Living at the water with green infrastructure and more than 7.5km new green river promenades, are the attractive characteristics of this new residential and working area. The first one of three planned connection bridges is now finished and has received the name of the architect whose museum building changed the reputation of the city in the world: Frank Gehry Bridge.  Time will tell if Zorrotzaurre will be characterised by Spanish investor ideas of the usual big blocks with interior column-like courtyards or if we will see the first residential area worldwide with an urban design following the dynamic lines of a Zaha-Hadid with thin slabs.

Text by Bernd Nitsch, GA-Bilbao

 

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