Zubizuri and the Isozaki Towers

That white arch that looks like a taut sail is the Zubizuri, “white bridge” in Basque, designed by Santiago Calatrava and opened on 30 May 1997, a few months before the Guggenheim. It links Campo Volantín on the right bank with Uribitarte quay, and it quickly became one of the symbols of the new Bilbao.

1A glass deck in a rainy city

The deck was designed with glass tiles, beautiful and very slippery in a city where it rains often. There were falls, non-slip strips, tiles cracked by temperature changes and, in the end, the non-slip carpet you are walking on today. Bilbao’s relationship with this bridge is equal parts affection and complaint.

2Isozaki’s gateway

On the left bank, the Japanese architect Arata Isozaki built Isozaki Atea, “Isozaki Gate”: two 82-metre twin towers flanking a stairway about fifty metres wide that bridges the height difference between the river and the city centre. To connect it to the Zubizuri, a section of Calatrava’s railing was cut. The architect sued the City Council over his moral rights as author; in 2009 the Provincial Court ruled in his favour and awarded him 30,000 euros, which he donated to Bilbao’s Santa Casa de Misericordia charity.

Close by, at the end of Campo Volantín, the Artxanda funicular has been climbing the hill in about three minutes since 1915: a good option for seeing the whole city from above.

3What to look for

• The tilted arch and the cables holding up the deck.
• Isozaki’s walkway hooked onto the bridge.
• The stairway between the two towers.