area 111 | zero volume

architect: Miró Rivera Architects

location: Austin, Texas

year: 2005

Located in a densely vegetated site in Lake Austin, this pedestrian bridge connects the main house in the property with a newly constructed guest house. The guesthouse is surrounded by a natural landscape that includes reed-covered wetlands, which serve as a migratory stop for egrets, cranes and swans.  The development of the project utilized a meticulous analysis of the existing vegetation and wild life to implement a ten year plan that will eliminate invasive plants, reintroduce native plants, and restore and increase the existing wetlands. With a design inspired in the reeds and other native vegetation that cover the shores of the lake, this bridge is a light and maintenance-free structure integrated in its beautiful wetland setting. The bars/reeds intertwine at the abutments and “grow” over the bridge, camouflaging it and turning into symbiotic, almost invisible link. The bridge is composed of three elements:
Superstructure.
The arch structure spans 100 feet with a main span of 80 feet.  It is composed of five nested five inch diameter pipes that diverge gracefully between the spring-point of the main span and the abutment at the beginning of the bridge.
Decking and Railing
The pipes support 1/2” diameter bars which become both decking and guardrail with a simple field bend from horizontal to vertical.  The irregular length and close spacing of the bars recall the native reeds of the site, and the thin profile of the superstructure is made thinner when viewed through the visual veil of the reeds. The hand rail consists of a rope secured with steel wire rings to a 1x1 horizontal tube welded to the vertical bars.
Abutment
Native stone slabs are layered vertically to create the ramps at the abutments.  Deep raked joints recreate the rhythm of the steel bars of the deck and railings. To further integrate the bridge in its natural setting the steel is left unfinished to weather, just like the rope handrail and the stone ramps.

Miró Rivera Architects has emerged as one of the leading new architectural voices in the United States, quietly creating a body of work that exemplifies design excellence and that has bben recognized nationally and internationally with 31 design awards. Our design philisophy is based in what we call ”responsible architecture”, something we try to apply in every project. An architecture that responds to the three basic areas of responsability, that we believe, architects need to address in every project. At Miro RIvera architecture is understood as an endeavor where the reals of ideas, esthetics and technology intersect. Aware of the role of the architect  as a citizen-thinker-artist builder, MRA aspires in every project to create responsible architecture that responds to its natural or urban context, addresses basic human needs, is beautifully crafted and has longevity and presence. The work of Miro Rivera Architects has been exhibited in New York, Chicago, Tennessee, Texas, Puerto Rico, England, Spain and Germany.