Bridging

Abstract

It all started with one of my deep memories -- when I was a child, and first saw QINGMING FESTIVAL, a masterpiece created by great painter, Zhang Zeduan, I was attracted by the riverside city scene of Song dynasty, and was surprised by the amiable atmosphere among citizens social life and the comfortable sense of urban scale. This memory has deeply affected me.

In contrast, our Chinese newborn modern cities become dreadfully alike, with their monotonous expansion, and meanwhile, they gradually lost their intimate sense of scale and regional sense of identity that they once had.

Bridge, as one of Chinese infrastructural development, not only indicates the Chinese urban development in history, but its role and responsibilities go beyond its proper functions. No matter who we are, ancient Chinese or modern Chinese, their love for the bridge have beyond the practicability of the bridge itself. The bridge has a deep cultural heritage in a sense.

Since such issues have arisen in our contemporary cities, why not date back to the origins of Chinese cities development -- to reinterpret the function of bridges so that reshape the scale of entire city by using modern architectural language?