Miguel Rosales

Early life and education

Rosales was born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, where he received a degree in architecture at the Universidad Francisco Marroquin. In 1985, he enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to study Urban and Environmental Design, obtaining a SMArchS (Master of Science in Architecture Studies) degree in 1987. He later completed engineering studies related to bridge design when he received grants from MIT to study Swiss bridges, from the AIA/American Architecture Foundation to study Swiss and Spanish bridge structure, and from the National Endowment for the Arts to study Infrastructure Design for the Future. As part of the grants’ activities he visited the following cities in the late 1990s to conduct research and documentation related to transportation and bridge design: Barcelona, Spain; Zurich, Switzerland, and Seattle, Washington.

Career

Rosales’ career has largely been dedicated to bridge and infrastructure design in the United States. He initially worked with pioneering Swiss engineer and bridge designer Christian Menn, and from 1988 to 1996, Rosales served as the lead architect and urban designer for the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge over the Charles River. This highly-visible structure is part of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, informally called "The Big Dig". During his tenure at this high-profile project, he mainly focused in improving the appearance of the highways and bridges as part of the multi-billion project that helped transformed downtown Boston by removing an elevated highway and by opening access to the harbor.

In 1997, he started his own independent architecture and engineering professional practice, Rosales + Partners, in Boston. Soon after the formation of his firm, he was involved in the design of three award-winning bridge projects: Liberty Bridge at Falls Park on the Reedy in Greenville, South Carolina, completed in 2004, Puente Centenario, over the Panama Canal, Panama, completed in 2004 and Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge over the Potomac River in Washington DC, completed in 2008. These bridges have received multiple awards and widespread recognition.

Recently completed projects include the Phyllis J. Tilley Memorial Bridge over the Trinity River in Fort Worth Texas, completed in 2012 and the Christina and John Markey Memorial Pedestrian Bridge, completed in 2013.

Personal life

Rosales lives on Mount Vernon Street in the historic Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, not far from the Zakim Bridge, the Longfellow Bridge, and several other bridges he has designed. He is active in the Beacon Hill Civic Association Tree Committee, which he co-chairs with John Corey as of 2015. Working together with the Beacon Hill Garden Club and the Boston Parks Department, the Tree Committee was able to fund and recruit volunteer staff to install protective iron tree guards and decorative plantings around tree pits in the sidewalks of Charles Street, the main thoroughfare of Beacon Hill. Rosales and Corey were originally inspired in 2009 by a visit to Jermyn Street in London, England, famous for its fashionable men's wear shops and other retail stores.

Recognition

Miguel Rosales has received international recognition for his iconic bridge aesthetic and designs. Some of the awards he has received are for the following bridges: Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge, Liberty Bridge, I-235 Pedestrian Bridge, Puente Centenario, Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. Earlier in his career, Rosales received the P/A Young Architects Award in 1993, published in Progressive Architecture. In 1993, he received an AIA Urban Design Award of Excellence, for his "Plan for Charles River Crossing/Interchange, Central Artery/ Tunnel Project".

Completed projects

Current projects

As of 2015, Rosales is designing the following bridges:

Proposed projects