Architects: Dominique Perrault Architecture Location: Parque de la Arganzuela, Madrid, Spain Engineering: MC2 – Julio Martínez Calzón (stucture) / TYPSA (mechanical engineering) Built area: Footbridge 150 m (section 1) 128 m (section 2) length, 5 to 12 m width Completion: 2010 Photographs: Georges Fessy, Ayuntamiento de Madrid
The burying underground of the highway that ran along the edges of the Manzanares river provided the opportunity to open up a new urban territory to the inhabitants of Madrid: the Manzanares Park. A series of bridges over the river will allow passage from one side of the park to the other. Designed to link the neighborhoods on the right and left banks of the river, the Arganzuela Footbridge will be the longest of all the bridges to be built. The bridge will be for both pedestrians and cyclists.
The footbridge enables people to cross from one side of the park to the other while also providing direct access to the park below. Cone like in structure, the bridge has two interlocking metal spirals, wrapped by a metallic ribbon. Spaced wooden slats make up the floor of the bridge, allowing the rays of the sun to penetrate through to the park below. The cones’ geographic location creates a belvedere over the park and the surrounding city as well as an exceptional location from which it will be possible to admire the famous Toledo Bridge. Shaded during the day, the promenade becomes luminous at night.
