A leaf of boat
Located in the northeast of the Shanghai central urban area, New Jiangwan Neighborhood has its excellent natural geographical environment with lush forests and surrounding rivers. The two pedestrian bridges for reconstruction are located next to the neighborhood center of New Jiangwan Neighborhood.The bridge is like a leaf floating on the river, as the romantic poem saying "Tiny boat is full of dreams and stars”.
The original bridge has already met the functional requirements. However, the exposed municipal water pipes affect the beauty. The design needs to hide the water pipes for local image at the minimum cost, and also be flexible disassemble and facilitate maintenance. The biggest challenge for design is the cost. The budget of about 100 thousand yuan for one single bridge requires accurate count.
The original railings are removed and the pavements are retained. Although the convenient bridge is small, its 3.9-meter wide and 28-meter long volume also has a deck area of nearly 110 square meters. Even if we use the material with highest cost performance, the pavements will also cost nearly 20% of budget. In addition to new railings and decorative components, we also reserve part of the limited budget for night lighting, for the real and urgent demand by people in this neighbourhood. The decorative components need to be harmonious with the natural environment and convenient for disassembly and maintenance. The wooden grid naturally becomes our first choice.
The design uses soft curves to control, the middle is high and wide, and the ends are low and narrow. It outlines a slender and tensile volume, like the wings of a water bird when it takes off, full of instantaneous beauty. The downward and inward contraction of the bottom also greatly weakens the sense of heaviness caused by the wrapped water pipe, making the bridge body full of changes in every different perspective. The modular array is used to realize the changing shape of the wooden grid. The gap between the grids not only reduce the cost, but also brings delicate texture change. When it rains, the rain flows through the wooden grid to the river, and the bridge body seems to wear a layer of rain gauze. The water pipes wrapped by the wooden grid disappear in daily life. However, they are easy to find during maintenance.
The railings are designed in the form of double-clip flat steel, which is inclined inwards. The ultra-thin single-clip flat steel achieves the minimum visible surface of the components in the landscape view. The double-clip structure not only increases the combination strength, but also integrates the floodlighting lamps at the bottom, killing two birds with one stone. The flexible metal mesh between the clips minimizes the obstruction of the material itself to the sight. The nature in the distance and the wooden grid in the near gradually come to us, making people forget the silver barrier unconsciously.
The series of detail design makes the convenient bridge not only elegant in shape, but also exquisite in detail. The wood representing nature and the metal representing technology collide here, and merge into the surrounding wild nature together. The reconstruction has realized the visual upgrade and function optimization of the pedestrian bridge, and added a simple romance to the natural neighborhood environment.
一葉
扁舟
位於上海中心城區東北部的新江灣城社區有著極佳的自然地理環境，植被豐茂，水體環繞，改造的對象就是位於新江灣城社區鄰里中心旁的兩座便民步行橋。設計以一葉扁舟為概念，改造後的便民橋猶如一隻小船飄蕩在河面，讓人聯想起「滿船清夢壓星河」的浪漫詩句。
原始的橋梁設計已解決功能性使用需求，但因為裸露的市政水管從橋體兩側穿過，捆綁著橋身，因此業主想以最小的代價包裹水管，提升視覺形象，同時還需靈活拆卸，方便檢修。設計面臨的最大挑戰可能還是來自於造價，單座橋體十多萬的總預算決定了「每一分錢都得花在刀刃上」。
設計首先拆除了和景觀水面互動性不佳的原始欄桿，幾乎沒有猶豫，橋面的鋪裝被保留了下來。因為便民橋雖小，但3.9米寬、28米長的體量也有將近110㎡的橋面鋪裝面積，即使用性價比最高的材料，也會花掉近20%的預算。除了新替換的欄桿和包裹水管的裝飾構件，我們留意到周邊居民對橋體夜間照明的真實而迫切的需求，設計將原本有限的預算也預留一部分在夜間照明上。包裹水管的外觀形式需和諧融入場地周邊的自然環境又方便拆卸檢修，木格柵順理成章的成為了第一候選。
設計以兩條柔和的曲線控制橋身線條，中間高而寬、兩端低而窄，勾勒出修長而富有張力的體量，像水鳥起飛時張開的翅膀，充滿瞬時的美。而底部向下、向內側收縮的趨勢也很好的削弱了因為包裹水管而帶來的厚重感，使得橋體在每個不同的視角下都充滿變化。木格柵以單一自然材料的模數化陣列實現變化的造型，格柵之間的間隙既節約了材料，也使得橋身在近看時擁有細膩的肌理變化。每當下雨的時候，雨水從格柵中穿過流向河面，橋身彷彿穿上了一層朦朧的「雨紗」。被木格柵包裹的水管實現了日常中視覺上的消失，但在需要檢修時又可以方便上人並快速查找定位。
欄桿設計選擇了向內傾斜的雙夾片扁鋼形式，超薄的單片扁鋼實現了在景觀視野上最小化的構件可視面，雙夾片的構造既增加了組合強度，又在底部集合了泛光照明燈具，一舉兩得。夾片之間的柔性金屬網最大程度減小了材料本身對視線的遮擋，遠處的自然和近處的木格柵漸次而來，使人在不覺中忘記了這道銀色的阻隔。
這一系列的細節設計使得便民橋除了整體飄逸的造型之外，還有精緻挺拔的構造細節，代表自然的木頭和代表科技的金屬在此碰撞，又一同融入周邊野趣的自然。改造精打細算地實現了便民步行橋的視覺升級和功能優化，為自然生態的社區環境增添了一份樸實的浪漫。
