9. Ebro riverbanks at Las Fuentes District
We have arrived at the magnificent Unión Bridge or Las Fuentes Bridge, opened on 7 October 1989, a spectacular work of the engineer Antonio Torroja, son of the prestigious engineer Eduardo Torroja and father of the singer of the pop band Mecano. Under the bridge, on the right bank of the Ebro, we find the sculpture made in stainless steel named Water under the Bridge directly commissioned by Expoagua to the Welsh author Richard Deacon, who, during his first walk by the Ebro, discovered a bridge under which there was a small tree forming angles at the concrete ceiling. Taking that view as starting point, he planned by computer a complex geometrical figure of hollow tubes fold in angles. Its expressive name matches perfectly well with its location, but it must not be translated word by word, since this is an English saying used to refer to past things that must be forgotten. As we say in Spanish "agua pasada no mueve molino". Without any doubt, this work belongs to the category of very efficient works of art which serve to solve linking problems of very different origin: between natural environment and urban layout, "problematic" lines of separation between different architectural and development projects, massive access or marginal areas, etc.
Going along the right bank, we find a work of Viena artist but residing in Spain, Eva Lootz. Her initial idea for Expoagua´s contest was to make a small island in the middle of the Ebro, but, since floods and things transported by the river could create conservation problems, she decided to place it at this green area, where she designed a garden of ear-shaped pebbles and plants that invites to listen to the murmur of the river and the sounds from loudspeakers. This is the origin of its poetic name: Talking Ear. With this work, we end our art route by the Ebro banks, that, maybe, could continue to the controversial dam, designed by Isidro Navarro to rise water level, making the river navigable. Or, even to the imposing Manuel Giménez Abad Bridge, designed by Javier Manterola and opened in September 2002. We are far away from the old town, but there are public transports for coming back, and both, the paths and the bike-lane going on to the Third Ring Road, invite us to continue our walk around the city (or to come back and go along the river banks that we have not visited).