OMA + OLIN have been announced as the chosen architects for Washington DC's new 11st Street Bridge Park project.

The two firm's joint proposal beat out ideas from three other teams.

Like other elevated parks, the 11th Street Bridge Park project will be built on out-of-use infrastructure; in this case it’s an aging freeway that stretches over the Anacostia River.

The bridge connects two very different neighborhoods—the more affluent, developed Navy Yards on one side, and the more neglected Anacostia on the other. Here, what the bridge might look like during the winter months.

OMA + OLIN's intention is to make the 11th Street Bridge Park a community hub, rather than a pedestrian thoroughfare.

To do that, OMA + OLIN designed “spaces that are really hardwired into the bridge.”

Permanent spaces are possible because the two teams fashioned an X-shaped structure that’s cantilevered up in the center to allow boats passage.

This creates carved out spaces, and rooftops, allowing for cafes...

...and performance centers.

OMA + OLIN imagine that X-shape joining the rest of the capitol's landmarks.

The Anacostia River is horribly polluted, so environmental education plays a big role in the design. Waterfalls on both ends of the bridge will demonstrate how plants naturally clean water.

The goal is to have a river that Washington DC's residents can swim and fish in by 2025.