Silver Architecture, Building and Structure Design · 2025
Twist Bridge Pedestrian Overpass
by Ge Wang
- A' Design Award 2025 Silver Winner in Architecture, Building and Structure Design
- Awarded April 15, 2025
- CLIENT: Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 20,427
- Verification code 923EE5C747 · Verify this award
About Twist Bridge Pedestrian Overpass
Twist Bridge is a pedestrian overpass built between Huagai Mountain and Fengling Mountain in Shunde, Foshan, China. The form is inspired by a twisted sheet of paper, and the deck turns in the air like a ribbon. The rotating railing does not block the view. Instead, the railing guides pedestrians toward the open city landscape. The inner length is 65.588 meters, the outer length is 71.191 meters, and the width is 3 meters. Twist Bridge links the walking paths of the two mountains and offers a safer crossing over the road below.
Twist Bridge Pedestrian Overpass by Ge Wang represents a compelling expression of contemporary infrastructure design philosophy that prioritizes sculptural elegance alongside functional pedestrian connectivity, positioning this work within the broader tradition of expressive bridge engineering that traces lineage through the organic structural poetry of Santiago Calatrava and the fluid formal vocabularies of Zaha Hadid's landscape interventions. The work demonstrates remarkable technical achievement in its torsional geometry, where the deck surface appears to rotate through space as it traverses the vehicular corridor below, creating a dynamic three-dimensional form from what might conventionally be conceived as a simple linear span. This twisting motion suggests an engagement with parametric design methodologies and advanced structural analysis tools that enable architects and engineers to realize forms previously impossible or prohibitively complex to calculate and construct. The chromatic decision to render the structure in pristine white establishes visual distinction against the verdant landscape setting while simultaneously invoking associations with purity, modernity, and progressive civic investment in public realm enhancement. The singular slender column supporting the span demonstrates confident structural efficiency, eliminating the visual clutter of multiple supports while creating an almost gestural quality, as though the bridge were captured mid-movement in an elegant balletic extension across the roadway. Thematically, the work celebrates the ongoing reconciliation of pedestrian and vehicular realms within contemporary metropolitan environments, suggesting an optimistic vision wherein infrastructure transcends mere utility to become memorable urban experience. The integration with surrounding mature tree canopy indicates thoughtful landscape coordination, while the flowing guardrail treatment maintains formal continuity throughout the structure's length. Viewers might contemplate how such interventions transform the quotidian act of crossing a street into an opportunity for aesthetic engagement and elevated urban experience, questioning what role beauty and sculptural ambition might play in shaping more humane metropolitan environments.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The design inspiration of Liang Street Huagai Mountain Pedestrian Overpass comes from a twisted paper. It is a connecting station between different spaces in the city, providing people with safer travel, expanding the city's mountain walking path, and allowing the two mountains to be connected. At the same time, it is also the city's landmark, which can make tourists remember it through its unique shape.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- The inner length of the bridge is 65.588m, the outer length is 71.191m, and the width of the bridge is 3m.
- Tags
- Pedestrian overpass, Transportation building, city gate, living environment
- Production Technology
- The north section is equipped with structural columns, the thickness of the overpass structure is about 450mm, and the thickness of the inclined plane structure is about 200mm, which makes the bridge deck lighter, the structural stability is high, and the cost is relatively low. But this will have some impact on the overall shape.
- Design Challenge
- In terms of design concept, the concept of the entire pedestrian bridge is derived from seemingly ordinary but mysterious paper flowers. This unique twisted design creates a new form of space packaging and enclosure. Its dynamic shape is like a ribbon dancing in the air, adding a unique and bright color to the city skyline.
- Project Duration
- Completed in October 2021, located in Fengshan Middle Road, Shunde District, Foshan City, Guangdong Province, China.
- Operation Flow
- When pedestrians walk on the bridge, the rotating fence is cleverly formed. It is not a visual barrier, but rather like a thoughtful guide, cleverly guiding people to view the open and boundless city landscape. With the movement of vehicles, the change of different distances and angles between the overpass and vehicles makes drivers capture different styles of overpasses every time they look up.
- Research
- As a place where people can get close to nature, Huagai Mountain walkway attracts tourists and citizens to visit, relax, and exercise, enhancing the city's vitality and improving the construction of the city's natural environment. In terms of traffic flow, the walkway has multiple entrances and exits. It is connected to the surrounding roads, commercial areas, scenic spots, and residential areas, expanding the walking range of tourists and citizens, increasing the number of path options, and making Huagai Mountain a pedestrian transportation hub for people to use. Our bridge construction site is located between Huagai Mountain and Fengling Mountain, both of which are recreational areas for citizens in the city. There is a highway between the two mountains, and the average height difference between the edges of the two mountains and the road is 6.2 meters. To connect the activity space between Huagai Mountain and Fengling Mountains, enhance the accessibility of Huagai Mountain walkway, and improve the spatial experience of citizens and tourists, we built a bridge at this location.
- Inspiration
- From the design concept, the concept of the entire pedestrian bridge comes from a seemingly ordinary but mysterious paper. This unique twisted design creates a new form of space packaging and enclosure. Its dynamic shape is like a ribbon dancing in the air, adding a unique and bright color to the city skyline.