Firm: El Dorado, Kansas City
Team: David Dowell, with Chris Burk
Spanning Brush Creek on the south side of Kansas City, the Troost Bridge dramatically enhances an otherwise drab, utilitarian structure, transforming it into something far more purposeful and socially relevant. Local firm El Dorado retooled the concrete bridge to handle both pedestrian and vehicle traffic. Three-metre-tall glass panels coated in an anti-graffiti film stand together to form the guardrail; and mirrored stainless steel panels line the concrete barrier between cars and pedestrians, reflecting daylight onto the glazing. The result is an airy interplay between reflection and refraction – highly symbolic, since the bridge runs along Troost Avenue, the traditional dividing line between the city’s black and white neighbourhoods.
Location: Beirut
Firm: Vladimir Djurovic Landscape Architecture, Broumana, Lebanon
Team: Vladimir Djurovic, with Salim Kanaan and Rafi Karakashian
This elegant urban garden, on a flatiron footprint terraced with a solemn series of reflecting pools, honours former Lebanese prime minister Rafic Hariri, who was assassinated in 2005. The triangular block sits in the shadow of the Grand Serail, Hariri’s former office, its long slabs of dark grey granite symbolizing the incremental rebuilding of the capital. The mechanical equipment that operates the reflecting pools is hidden beneath manicured lawns, and a row of jacaranda trees frames this simple and serene monument to peace and resiliency.