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The Looping Festina Lente Bridge

In 2007, design students Adnan Alagić, Bojan Kanlić, and Amila Hrustić, won a competition to design a pedestrian bridge that linked the Academy of Fine Arts and a street in Sarajevo. Five years later, the Festina Lente looping bridge is now complete and spans 38 meters over the river as a gateway to what was a church but is now one of the school’s buildings.

The bridge is appropriately named Festina Lente, which is Latin for “hurry slowly” because the loop is meant for those walking across to pause and to awaken spiritually. It also acts as a gate, which is symbolic in the city where entrances are marked by gates.

Benches are installed in the loop as places to meet and interact with others.

White LED lights light the bridge up at night.

Caroline Williamson is Editor-in-Chief of Design Milk. She has a BFA in photography from SCAD and can usually be found searching for vintage wares, doing New York Times crossword puzzles in pen, or reworking playlists on Spotify.