Bridging the gap: W* meets French engineer and architect Marc Mimram
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- (opens in new tab)
- Sign up to our newsletter Newsletter

Marc Mimram is a qualified engineer and architect who is passionate about infrastructure. Based in Paris, his bridges and buildings can be found across Europe and beyond. This Thursday (14 July), Mimram will speak at the event 'Beyond the Bridge', which is part of the V&A’s Engineering Season. Preceding his appearance, Wallpaper* caught up with Mimram for a quickfire insight into his ethos and design process.
W*: As both an architect and engineer, how do you approach building projects?
Marc Mimram: I started as an engineer for architects, working with people like Renzo Piano and Rem Koolhaas. But for me there is no difference between architecture and engineering; a building is a building, gravity is gravity. Architecture is the art of transforming the world.
Why are bridges so important to you?
Bridges are not only a functional connection, they are also a place, a public space. When I began working, bridges came out of catalogues. Now we try to make every bridge different, to take into account the geography and the city.
How do you combine the connecting function of a bridge with place-making?
The most important reference to me is London’s Borough Market, because it’s under London Bridge, so the bridge is the roof. For the Hassan II Bridge in Morocco, we used the shadow of the deck of the road as the roof for a free public space below. Local people use it as a playground, and that’s OK for me.
What do you have on the drawing board?
Under construction is our Panorama building on Paris’s Left Bank, spanning 58m of railway tracks. The infrastructure is the railway, cutting the city in two parts; so the building acts as a bridge or connection to either side, like the Ponte Vecchio in Florence.
What points will you raise during 'Beyond the Bridge'?
In the past, the representation of power was through the building. Now it’s through public space, because everyone shares it, and it’s where we can be together. It’s the place of democracy. Infrastructure is part of that, and that’s incredible for me. I believe that infrastructure can be part of the generous structure in the world.
The book 'Marc Mimram: Architecture and Structure' will be launched at the V&A event, and will be available at RIBA Bookshops.
The Paris-based architect and engineer created the station's design, which was revealed in 2014
Mimram is also behind this design for a bridge in Bath
The Strasbourg School of Architecture is among Mimram's realised works. Photography: Julien Lanoo
As is the Roland Garros training centre, pictured here and completed in 2015
INFORMATION
'Beyond the Bridge' takes place on 14 July from 6pm – 10pm. For more information, visit the V&A website (opens in new tab) and Marc Mimram’s website (opens in new tab)
ADDRESS
The Lydia & Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre
V&A
Cromwell Road
London SW7 2RL
VIEW GOOGLE MAPS (opens in new tab)
-
Beacon House is the contemporary rebirth of a midcentury San Francisco home
Beacon House by Edmonds + Lee Architecture is a renovation project that sensitively brings a modernist San Francisco home into the 21st century
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
Supergraphics pioneer Barbara Stauffacher Solomon: ‘Sure, make things big – anything is possible'
94-year-old graphic designer Barbara Stauffacher Solomon talks radical typography, motherhood, and her cool welcome for St Moritz
By Jessica Klingelfuss • Published
-
Revea skin-mapping app uses Nasa technology in pursuit of a perfect complexion
The Revea skin-mapping app may be the next revolution in customised skincare, with unique camera-phone diagnostics
By Pei-Ru Keh • Published
-
Contemporary bridge design connecting worlds
The world’s most extraordinary bridge design, showcasing the finest blend of architecture and engineering, from Italy to the US and the UK. Cross these bridges when you come to them!
By Ellie Stathaki • Published
-
British mosques explored: 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale preview
Previewing the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, we catch up with Shahed Saleem, one of the curators at the Applied Arts Pavilion Special Project. Titled ‘Three British Mosques', this exciting collaboration between La Biennale di Venezia and London's Victoria & Albert Museum focuses on adapted mosque spaces in London
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
Wilkinson Eyre's new Lille Langebro bridge serves Copenhagen's cyclists
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
Imagining a new Thames pedestrian bridge in East London
By Hadani Ditmars • Last updated
-
V&A unveils two new designs for east London cultural hub
By Clare Dowdy • Last updated
-
Kengo Kuma's V&A Dundee opens its doors to the public
By Ellie Stathaki • Last updated
-
V&A pavilion at Venice Architecture Biennale to explore the legacy of Robin Hood Gardens
By Harriet Thorpe • Last updated
-
Fresh display: Adrian Friend breathes new life into the V&A’s museum shop
By Clare Dowdy • Last updated