Pedro and Inês Bridge

Start Date: 01 October 2002 | Completion Date: 01 October 2006

In the city of Coimbra, Portugal, an innovative new pedestrian footbridge designed by Arup's Cecil Balmond with bridge designer and former chair of AFA Consult in Portugal António Adão da Fonseca, has turned crossing the Mondego River into a journey of discovery.

The Pedro and Inês Bridge is named after an age-old story of love, deceit and murder within the Portuguese Monarchy and was opened in the presence of the President of the Portuguese Republic. Its cantilevered walkways are joined only by a central island section that has no deep beam supports, giving the visual effect of a bridge that seemingly doesn't meet.

Working with the Advanced Geometry Unit (AGU) that he founded at Arup, Cecil Balmond has succeeded in creating a seemingly unprecedented piece of architecture. The structural dynamic is however, just one part of a richly conceived design concept for this bridge that makes it more than an engineering feat.

Bespoke balustrading with facetted panes of glass catch dappled light that has bounced off the river, as it is trapped between a seemingly random carbon steel framework. This and the landscaping to either side of the bridge demonstrate how pure structural techniques can introduce a new aesthetic into architecture.

The story of Pedro and Inês

It was a happy coincidence that the shape of the new bridge was - after its conception - 'coined' by the Mayor of Coimbra as reflecting an age-old story of love, deceit and murder within the Portuguese Monarchy.

Pedro, son and heir of King Afonso IV, was forced to marry Princess Constanza of Navarre even though he was in love with Galician noblewoman, Inês de Castro. Constanza died while still young and Pedro fled to live with Inês in Coimbra. However, the king disapproved, believing that her family was a potential threat to the Portuguese throne. He had Inês murdered in Coimbra's Quinta das Lágrimas Palace in 1355, breaking Pedro’s heart.

On the king's death, Pedro succeeded to the throne and took immediate revenge on the two killers by having their hearts torn out. He then announced that he had secretly married Inês and had her corpse exhumed and crowned. The court was forced to acknowledge her as queen by kneeling before her and kissing her decomposed hand. Their tombs now lie in the abbey at Alcobaça where, at Pedro's wish, they are placed foot to foot so that when they arise on the Day of Judgment, the couple will immediately see each other.

The essence of the tragic tale of Pedro and Inês could be metaphorically seen by the people of Coimbra in the two walkways that push outwards from the opposing banks towards the centre of the river but then curve away from each other, destined never to meet. Only the addition of a central meeting point enables pedestrians to cross the river.