San Cristoforo pedestrian and cycle bridge

The San Cristoforo pedestrian and cycle bridge is a strategic infrastructure project for the city of Milan, conceived to connect two neighborhoods separated by a complex system of infrastructures. The design interprets the bridge as a ribbon flowing sinuously between its two ends, with a distinctive central element: a large helical ramp that integrates into the central park and acts as a connection node between two urban areas long divided by physical barriers that were difficult to overcome.
This connection must be understood both at the neighborhood scale — linking areas that are currently accessible only by car — and at the urban scale, as a fundamental element in ensuring the continuity of Ecological Corridor No. 5, which crosses Milan from north to south.
The concept of a territorial landmark guided the design of the footbridge: an infrastructure capable of incorporating the multiple layers of its local, urban, and historical context, ultimately assuming a strong architectural identity.

Within this framework, the central helical ramp, in addition to optimizing the ground footprint and leaving more space for the future park, becomes a symbolic node that reconnects the two previously separated neighborhoods.
The main deck recalls the “C”- shaped structure of the traditional metal barges of the Navigli canals, with robust steel side walls and a hollow core. It is supported by slender ground elements — steel pylons and concrete cores housing the elevators — conceived as autonomous architectural episodes, each inspired by a Master of Milanese architecture. The bridge is not envisioned merely as a crossing; thanks to the introduction of transverse structures at the access points, the elevation of the walkway is used to create resting and observation areas, offering new panoramic viewpoints overlooking the landscape of the Naviglio Grande.

Architecture: AOUMM (Luca Astorri, Riccardo M. Balzarotti, Rossella Locatelli, Matteo Poli)

Competition and Design Team: Riccardo M. Balzarotti (Partner in Charge), Luca Astorri, Rossella Locatelli, Matteo Poli, Chiara Torregrossa, Simone Ottaviani, Micaela Ortega, Claudio Sosio De Rosa, Giorgio Carlo Pesenti, Danilo Sironi, Melina Koutra, Nicolò Lastrico.

Location: Milan, Italy

Year: Competition: 2019; Executive Design and Construction: 2020–2025

Client: Municipality of Milan, M4 S.p.A., M.M. S.p.A.

Structural Engineering: M Ingegneria

Contractor: Webuild (Part of the CMM4 Consortium)

Photography: Fabio Petronilli (Drone Images); AOUMM (Ground-Level Images)

Project data:
Total length: 600 m
Maximum span: 68 m
Deck height above ground: 9.5 m
Deck width: 4.8 m
External surfaces: 2,000 sqm (Metro Station Exit); 9,000 sqm (Ronchetto Park)