Finally, Sao Paulo gets a landmark

For a metropolis of its size and importance, 20 million-person São Paulo has remarkably few landmarks to give it some kind of international identity. Paris has the Eiffel Tower. Rio has the Sugar Loaf and the Christ statue. Even Buenos Aires offers visitors the obelisk at its urban heart.

And São Paulo? Most postcards here just show the city's urban chaos, the endless rows of identical high-rise buildings, the gray concrete as far as the eye can see and maybe architect Oscar Niemeyer's giant, curved Copan building the only jewel in the asphalt.

Well, that changed this weekend. The city inaugurated on Saturday its new Octavio Frias de Oliveira bridge, which crosses both the Pinheiros River and the city's main highway. It's the only bridge in the world linking two suspended platforms crossing over each over, all hung from a central tower standing about 450 feet tall.

While that just put you to sleep, what really impresses is the bridge's astounding design. The giant wishbone-shaped central tower acts like a loom for dozens of bright-yellow suspension cables, which are weaved together in a beautiful patchwork.

At night, colored lights shine along the wishbone and cables, showing off the bridge as the work of sculpture that it is.

By the way, one nerdy detail: The bridge is named after the founder of Brazil's biggest newspaper, Folha de São Paulo, but connects to Roberto Marinho Avenue, named after the founder of the Rio-based Globo TV, newspaper, magazine and movie empire. I wonder what the two, now-deceased rivals would have thought of that.

I've only seen photos and video of the new bridge but can't wait to check it out next time I'm in town. I have a feeling I won't be alone out there gawking and taking pictures. Imagine that, in endless, gray São Paulo! The sno-globes and overpriced shot glasses can't be far behind.