Photo Gallery The Bridges of Spijkenisse

A Dutch artist is providing some much needed levity amid the ongoing euro crisis, undertaking a project to build the seven fictional bridges portrayed on the euro banknotes. The stylized bridge designs were meant to prevent inter-European rivalries, but now they're all located in a single country.
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Few people are likely aware that the architectural features found on euro bank notes never actually existed. Worried about offending member nations, the European Monetary Institute commissioned designs for windows, gateways and bridges to fit in with the generic theme "Ages and Styles of Europe" ahead of their 2002 launch, in an attempt to avoid "national bias."

Foto: AP
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But Dutch artist Robin Stam decided to make the bridges a reality. His plans are shown here.

Foto: Robin Stam
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Two have already been finished -- the red Romanesque-style bridge from the ten-euro note, shown here...

Foto: Klaas Boonstra
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...and the orange Renaissance-style bridge from the 50-euro bill shown here. The remaining five bridges -- Classical, Gothic, Baroque, industrial iron and glass, and modern 20th century-- are set for completion by the end of next year.

Foto: Klaas Boonstra
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Here, the Romanesque bridge is shown under construction.

Foto: Klaas Boonstra
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Artist Stam said that while the project began as a joke, city officials in the Rotterdam suburb of Spijkenisse -- which also happens to be where he was born and raised -- were enthusiastic about seeing it through.

Foto: Klaas Boonstra
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Matching the color of the concrete to the images in the euro banknotes was particularly challenging, 30-year-old Stam said.

Foto: Klaas Boonstra
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Here, the artist's rendering of the Romanesque bridge before its completion.

Foto: Robin Stam
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Robert Kalina, the Austrian designer behind the euro bank notes, told SPIEGEL ONLINE he was amused that his vision for the euro notes had been built. "It's a very humorous idea," he said. "But I would have liked to have seen them built in the actual old style of the bridges they were modelled on instead of the kitschy façade."

Foto: Klaas Boonstra
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The upscale housing development in Spijkenisse happened to need seven bridges, the same number of euro banknote bridges Stam hoped to copy. "I was there at the right time," he told SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Foto: Gemeente Spijkenisse
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Here, his plan for the Classical-style five-euro banknote.

Foto: Robin Stam
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Few people will likely recognize this bridge. It's the industrial-style iron and glass structure from the less-common 200-euro bill.

Foto: Robin Stam