Black Bridge Park 2011

2011

Public space

Alausí, Ecuador

Black Bridge Park 2011

The presence of the black bridge, the work of a disciple of Gustav Eiffel, as a landscape element and witness to the past linked to trade between the Ecuadorian coast and highlands, united for decades by the railroad, is the starting point for this project.

Currently, the bridge remains in its original state and is a tourist attraction. It is planned to develop a park in which this powerful and attractive structure would be integrated in order to provide the environment with spaces for cultural and leisure activities, for the entertainment and amusement of locals and visitors. A project in which respect and appreciation for nature are a priority.

The Devil's Nose (one of the tourist attractions in the area) is a positioning agent of the importance of the railroad in Ecuador during the last century. Alausí, with its tile-roofed houses and central courtyards, and its open doorways (something more typical of the coastal towns and unusual in the center of the highlands of the country) has in the Black Bridge another attraction to reinvent itself as a tourist town with a more cultural identity.

As a platform for this objective, THE BLACK BRIDGE PARK is planned, a space of nature on an urban scale where leisure, educational and cultural activities converge, where the architecture and engineering of the Black Bridge is respected and admired.

The multi-purpose space is a cylindrical building that internally articulates the interpretation center, lounge, offices and services. It will be in charge of generating income for the project to be self-sufficient. Externally, the flat roof is a stage for recreational and cultural events.

The structure of the boulevard is elevated from the ground to minimally impact the terrain, allowing the terraces and environments to be formalized, building or freeing voids and patios that are the same natural level of the terrain with a continuous and unaltered character.

The movement of people and the exchange of information that will be generated by this new landscape and its urban scenery will be paralleled by the movement of the congested Avenida 5 de Junio, allowing the visitor to enter the town and enjoy its various other charms.