The northern Monbijou Bridge is the site of offbeat, a project by the artist Albert Weis and the engineer Ian Liddell. The bridge is characterised by a temporary footbridge, flanked on both sides by utility mains. The boxlike covering creates an atmosphere of a narrow pass, within which the passers-by move at very different paces.

The majority of the passers-by stops involuntarily on the bridge to look at the enfolding cityscape from this shifted vantage point. The various paces of the passers-by cause temporary backups on the bridge. offbeat will react to these diverse movements and rhythms of the passers-by, intensifying these modes with a light installation.

Motion detectors and fluorescent lamps will be installed using a clamped/hanging construction. If a passer-by stands still on the bridge for longer than five seconds, the lamps will be activated in that section only. People crossing the bridge at a normal pace will not trigger a light signal. In most cases, there will be several passers-by on the bridge, some of whom will be looking around, so that a constantly changing composition is created.

At night the quarter is transformed by tranquillity and becomes a picturesque passageway. The light installation will characterise this transitory state. The opportunity for interaction among the pedestrians, who send out signals into their surroundings, will result in a communicative platform.

While the clamped/hanging construction required by the installation will lend the temporary footbridge the appearance of a real bridge, the small size will be disconcerting. The result is a perceptional break in the scale of inner-city spatial references, and thus a new view onto the urban surroundings.