Functionally speaking, the brief contained nothing exceptional. A canal separates the old city centre of Rijeka from the former harbour, which is to be converted into an urban park, and a new bridge was required to link the two areas. The unusual aspect of the project was the fact that the bridge was also meant to serve as a memorial to those who died in the Balkan War, especially the Croats who gave their lives defending this area against the attacks of Serbian forces. The bridge acquires its character as a monument from the vertical element on the park side of the canal. The sheet aluminium covering to the ground continues without a break up the two 12-metre-high vertical reinforced concrete slabs, between which a narrow slit is left open as a passageway. The strong symbolic statement made by the memorial is not least the result of the formal simplicity of the design. At night, the monument is bathed in an almost mystical light, an effect that is achieved through LED strips incorporated in the narrow, glazed inner faces of the slabs and in the balustrade handrails.