Bridge linking Miraflores-Barranco
 

Lima, Peru
Competition- 3rd price

2012

​

The Armendaris ravine is a natural space of iconic significance for Lima. Composed of two slopes covered with vegetation that owes its existence to water continuously trickling and seeping into the ravine. Above it, you can roam on very pleasant pedestrian paths of high urban quality. Paradoxically, this sophisticated environment is detracted from by the highway at the bottom of the ravine that, in turn, prevents a pleasant pedestrian connection between Barranco and Miraflores. 

 

Faced with this problem, the Mirador Bridge aims to link the system of pedestrian paths between the two districts and allow the pedestrians to once again feel as if they were crossing a natural space. 

 

To achieve this, a dense, green enclosure is created to envelope the main pedestrian overpass that gently welcomes passers-by. Walls made of honeysuckle provide a cool and protective atmosphere and, in addition, create spaces that house the library, cafeteria, and other services. 

 

If the main pedestrian bridge were to be directly supported by the edges of the ravine, it would considerably impact on the environment––on the vegetation cover, that is––by cutting off underground watercourses. Instead, three more slightly built bridges lower down gently fit into the system of sidewalks and paths without unduly taxing the existing green areas. 

 

The bridge is a powerful generator of plant mass, which reconciles the concept of an urban infrastructure with that of a natural landscape and returns some of its essence to the Armendaris ravine.