GUAJA BRIDGE

︎︎︎ PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE / 2019
︎︎︎ COMPETITION / SECOND PRIZE
︎︎︎ DESIGNED WITH PAUL KALOUSTIAN ARCHITECT

The bridge is only a fitting landmark and a welcoming station if it truly heralds the rich natural environment of the gauja natural park. It must therefore contain this promise within its design and become a peaceful promenade between the existing trees creating a sense of poetry and wonder as a prelude of a walk in the forest and transform into a pier over the lake as a signal of the gauja river running free. The information stand welcomes the pedestrian visitor onto a smoothly ascending platform offering different paths which hold in them a sense of discovery. The cut out form of the bridge takes a natural flowing shape that offers overlooks and rest areas as the visitor moves through.

The shape also helps the wind to freely circulate around its curves. The mesh balustrades create a visually blurred boundary letting the elements of nature pass through it seamlessly and yet it keeps the visitor protected and safe within its boundaries. From the street, the visitor in a car will soon encounter an unusual white cloud hovering between sky and earth and beckoning their proximity to the majestic park. Finally, the light structure sits with a minimal footprint over the white columns replicating the tree trunks and morphs in with the nature around it defying the usual nonplaceness of a bridge as simply a transient path between two points and becoming a actual space and a landmark