Bridge with grandstand

Dawn Bridge in Zhujiajiajiao

Site

The site of Dawn Bridge lies between the old town of Zhuji­a­jiao and new resi­den­tial deve­lo­p­ments, between the exis­ting crossings of the Fang­s­heng Bridge (a land­mark since 1571) and the Qingpu Bridge (a low-key modern road bridge). Zhuji­a­jiao is a water town on the outskirts of Shanghai, and was estab­lished about 1,700 years ago. Archaeo­lo­gical findings dating back 5,000 years have also been found. 36 stone bridges and nume­rous rivers line Zhuji­a­jiao, and many ancient buil­dings still line the river­banks today.

Lightness and elegance

Given that Dawn Bridge should estab­lish a rela­tion with the histo­rical and calm surroun­ding, the height of cons­truc­tion is kept inten­tio­nally low. The vertical alignment defines the sense of light­ness and elegance of a bridge. MVRDV aimed at provi­ding a graceful low curve above the water to blend with the land­scape. Beyond blen­ding, the aim is to provide a bridge for ever­y­body. By keeping the vertical alignment to a max and a slope of 8%, the bridge becomes acces­sible to all people whether on foot or on wheels (bicy­cles and wheel­chairs).

Architect

MVRDV bv Achterklooster 7 NL — 3011 RA Rotterdam

Client

Zhujiajiao Municipality

Team

Design MVRDV Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries
Design Team Wenchian Shi, Marta Pozo, Lorenzo Mattozzi with Wenzhao Jia, Cosimo Scotucci, Jose Sanmartin, Enrico Pintabona, Chi Zhang, Artemis Maneka, Cai Zheli, Ray Zhu, Jammy Zhu and Alice Huang
Visualization Antonio Luca Coco, Davide Calabrò, Giovanni Coni and Pavlos Ventouris

Author

MVRDV

Photograph

© MVRDV

Aerial view

Thank you, Google!

Delicate surrounding

The bridge further estab­lishes a rela­tion with the deli­cate surroun­ding by absor­bing its palette of colours and mate­rials. The grey roofs are recalled by the grey asphalt, while the white walls are expressed by the white bridge struc­ture. The reddish wood of houses and boats becomes the cover of the pede­strian deck and landings. Finally, the green of water and nature appears in form of trees on top of the deck as in the Fang­s­heng Bridge.

The bridge favours the view over the old town of Zhuji­a­jiao and maxi­mizes the space available for pede­strians. While giving prio­rity to pede­strians, the bridge also considers the driver expe­ri­ence as it winds slightly to provide ever-chan­ging perspec­tives of the surroun­ding.

Grandstand

To mini­mize the noise and air pollu­tion coming from the road bridge, the middle truss is cladded and covered by a new struc­ture: the flat deck morphs into a tridi­men­sional struc­ture and becomes a tribute. The grand­stand provides a viewing plat­form and a gathe­ring place over­loo­king the water.

To provide a passage along the river­front, the landings become stair­cases that allow pede­strians to cross on top. In addi­tion, the landings them­selves become a place for obser­ving and reaching the water. By connec­ting directly to the water, the bridge connects with the river and the network of canals that form and iden­tify Zhuji­a­jiao. The inau­gu­ra­tion of the bridge will start a virtuous process of brin­ging life and acti­vi­ties along the river banks.

Living room

The Fang­s­heng Bridge is already a land­mark and a tourist attrac­tion. The new link will be striking in its own right, without overs­ha­dowing history. It will serve the purpose of appre­cia­ting the surroun­ding: not just a link, but a new urban item.

The bridge eleva­tion is a new horizon and the tribune a new light rising from it: they will reflect the first light of every morning in Zhuji­a­jiao. The Dawn Bridge will be will a living room and an active part of the commu­nity, allo­wing people to gather, cele­brate and contem­p­late the river land­scape.
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