Arroyo Bridge Section was featured in the European Cultural Centre’s Art Biennale outdoor exhibition: “Personal Structures.” It was located prominently near the entrance to the 2022 Venice Biennale in the Marinaressa Gardens.

Sponsored by Mary and David Martin/MADWORKSHOP, the sculpture represents a full-scale portion of a pedestrian bridge designed by undergraduate students of the USC School of Architecture in 2014. This “Bridge Studio” was sponsored by Mary and David Martin and led by Scott Mitchell, a professor at USC and Advisory Board Member of MADWORKSHOP. The goal of the studio was to explore new modes of robot-assisted fabrication, supported by Autodesk Technology Center in Boston. A team of former USC School of Architecture students spent seven months as research residents at Autodesk, working hands-on with the robotic equipment.

While the pedestrian bridge is comprised of structural steel, Arroyo Bridge Section is comprised of both steel and aluminum, to save weight for shipment overseas.

Scott and his students created the sculpture’s components in Los Angeles, utilizing Autodesk’s technology, only without robots, to prove that hand assembly could achieve similar results. The group traveled to Italy to assemble the structure.