Ji Qiao, Fuzhou City, China
LOOK Architects’ Lucky Bridge is a simple and iconic architectural form that provides a safe crossing essential to daily life but also functions as a social connector that bridges two main urban infrastructures in the city of Fuzhou, China – the north-south green spine and the waterfront promenade of the Minjiang River.
This project has recently been awarded a 2023 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
It is the last bridge along a major north-south green spine that stitches together important parks and green spaces in the city to form a walkable pedestrianized network.
It connects the pedestrian green spine across a major arterial road with the east-west waterfront promenade along the Minjiang River.
It overcomes its site constraints to create seamless urban connectivity by mitigating levels between the pedestrianized green spine, the bridge deck, and the significantly lower waterfront promenade in a single simple gesture that allows a safe crossing of a major thoroughfare while creating a meaningful experience for the residents of the city.
The bridge is a piece of social infrastructure for the city. Large theatre seating marks the entrance from a large residential park and provides a backdrop for gatherings or events.
At eight meters wide, the Lucky Bridge is deliberately wide and incorporates planting and seating groups on its bridge deck to give a sense of an elevated podium that provides a place of respite within an urbanized context.
Pedestrians are drawn toward a portal frame that deliberately frames the view across the Minjiang River which in its simplicity establishes a dialogue with and evokes a collective memory of a city with strong connections to the river.
Gentle and wide steps lead from the bridge deck to the waterfront in a single gesture that emphasizes this connection toward the water, while forming a threshold at the urban scale to mark the transition between the city and the waterfront.
Project: Lucky Bridge – Ji Qiao
Architects: LOOK Architects Pte Ltd
Lead Architect: Look Boon Gee
Design Team: Chua Liang Ping, Chris Su Kaishan, Ng Sor Hiang, Fuzhou Planning Design & Research Institute
General Contractor: Guizhou Construction Engineering Group
Client: Fuzhou Urban and Rural Construction Group Co., Ltd
Photographers: Chen He and Lin Shuang Wei
