Miguel Rosales

Miguel Ángel Rosales Izás (born 1961 in Guatemala) is an American architect specializing in bridge aesthetics and design. He is the president and principal designer of Rosales+, an architecture and engineering firm based in Boston, Massachusetts specializing in the development of design, engineering and architecture projects for bridges, highways, landscape and urban accessibility. Christina and John Markey Memorial Pedestrian Bridge, and Liberty Bridge at Falls Park on the Reedy River. In 1985 he enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) While at MIT, Rosales specialized in urban design and planning, elements that later informed his work in bridge design and aesthetics.

Career Rosales initially worked with 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 Memorial Bridge over the Charles River. This structure is part of the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, informally called "The Big Dig". During his tenure at this project, he mainly focused in improving the appearance of the highways and bridges as part of the project that helped transform downtown Boston by removing an elevated highway and by opening access to the harbor. in Greenville, South Carolina, completed in 2004, Puente Centenario, over the Panama Canal, Panama, completed in 2004 and Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge

Other projects include the Phyllis J. Tilley Memorial Bridge over the Trinity River in Fort Worth, Texas, completed in 2012, the Christina and John Markey Memorial Pedestrian Bridge, the Frances Appleton Pedestrian Bridge and Longfellow Bridge restoration completed in 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts.

In 2001 he instituted the Miguel Rosales Award for the Universidad Francisco Marroquín School of Architecture student with the highest grade point average in his class.

Some projects met initial resistance from local residents, such as the Fore River Bridge. Rosales emphasized that the conceived vertical-lift bridge had technical advantages, and that a huge effort had been made to avoid immense costs and to improve the appearance. It incorporated elements of the 1936 Art Deco-style bridge, including also features like colored lighting at night and stainless steel screening of the towers at either end to make it more attractive.

Rosales' work is raising awareness in communities about the importance of preserving their historic architecture, which continue to inspire great admiration and civic pride. Rosales also served for five years on the Beacon Hill Architectural Commission.

Completed projects 2025: Bill Russell Bridge, Boston, MA 2023: East 54th Street footbridge, Manhattan, New York City 2019: Frances Appleton Bridge, Boston, MA 2013: Christina and John Markey Memorial Pedestrian Bridge, Revere, MA 2008: Woodrow Wilson Bridge and Maryland Interchange, Washington, DC 2008: John Glenn Columbus International Airport taxiway bridge, Columbus, OH 2005: George Washington Carver Bridge, Des Moines, IA 2005: I-235 Pedestrian Bridges, Des Moines, IA Edna M. Griffin Memorial Bridge 40th Street Pedestrian Bridge 44th Street Pedestrian Bridge 2004: Puente Centenario, Panama Canal, Panama Trio of pedestrian bridges in Cleveland, Ohio: drawbridge at North Coast Harbor, pedestrian bridge leading to Wendy Park at Whiskey Island from the north end of the Willow Street Bridge, S-shaped pedestrian bridge linking the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Temple Tifereth Israel, renovated by Case Western Reserve University as a performing-arts center. Northern Avenue Bridge, Boston, Massachusetts Harvard Bridge, linking Back Bay with Cambridge, Massachusetts ACEC National Recognition Award, ACEC Texas Eminent Conceptor, ACEC Texas Structural Systems Gold 2014 Bridge Awards, category Special Purpose: Phyllis J. Tilley Memorial Bridge 2025 Landezine International Landscape Award: 54th Street Bridge and East Midtown Greenway 2025: the City of Boston officially declares July 9 ‘Miguel Rosales Day’ in honor of the transformative and indelible impact made on the city’s infrastructure and skyline