Poster of the press conference/Guangzhou Daily

The press conference on the global naming contest for Guangzhou’s first footbridge across the Pearl River was held in Guangzhou today (May 13). 

He Jingtang, renowned architect and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, made a speech on behalf of his design team from South China University of Technology (SCUT) , introducing their design philosophy of this unique footbridge across the Pearl River.

Below is the full text of He Jingtang's speech.

Good morning. 

I'm honored to introduce the design of the Pearl River footbridge on behalf of the design team.

The first footbridge across the Pearl River of Guangzhou is a curved-beam skew-arch composite bridge with a span of 198 meters, a total length of 488 meters and a width of 15 meters. It is the first river-crossing footbridge in Guangzhou. After completion, it will be the largest spanned and widest curved-beam skew-arch footbridge in the world.

Infrastructure innovation can promote urban regeneration and revitalize old urban areas. Crossing the river on the west of the Guangzhou Tower, the Pearl River footbridge will become a link connecting the north and south axises of the city. Linking the north and south in a curved form and integrated into the existing pedestrian system on both sides of the river, the bridge fully respects the spatial order of the central axis. Its extended paths connect key scenic spots and facilities along the way, forming a waterfront hot spot network with superimposed vitality effects.

President Xi has said that history and culture are the soul of a city. The design of the Pearl River footbridge integrates the elements of Lingnan regional culture. With a concept of "sound of Chinese zither, dance of silk sleeves, and scene of Lingnan flower boat", the plane of the bridge reflects the form of the long sleeves of Cantonese Opera, the arch integrates the elements of Lingnan zither, and the deck landscape themes on Lingnan flower boat to jointly create a new flower bridge of the flower city with Lingnan characteristics.

The footbridge is a new scenic spot ideal for both looking around and being looked at on the Pearl River, encircling the central axis of the city with an opened gesture. When people walk on the bridge, scenery changes with every step with rich levels of near, medium and long-range views. 

The bridge provides the best panoramic viewing surface facing the core scenic area of the Pearl River. Matching the romantic waterfront environment and the music island theme, the bridge takes a simple and graceful curve, creating a new scene of the Ram City on the Pearl River with unique shape. At the same time, the light and see-through design not only avoids blocking the sight corridor of the river, but also blends in the city skyline harmoniously to draw the most beautiful curve on the Pearl River.

Urban construction should take the people as the center, and should constantly improve their happiness. To this end, the design team adopted a people-oriented principle to thoroughly study and meticulously design the functions of the bridge. 

The footbridge has multiple approach bridges, taking into account the multi-directional flow of people from both sides of the river, the Haixinsha Island and Ersha Island scenic spots, fully connecting and supplementing the existing pedestrian paths in the periphery. Divided into the east and west parts, the bridge deck shows clear division for movement and static activities. 

The east side is the main leisure and sight-seeing area, equipped with viewing platform and sitting steps plus easily-maintained plants to create a multifunctional space for leisure walking, accessible passing, tourist sight-seeing and even small performances. 

The west side is for fast passing, running, bicycle walking etc. Awning is set along the footpath to provide a humanized, all-weather walking experience. The bridge deck adopts many humanized designs such as accessible ramps, anti-skid treatment for floor and rounding anti-collision design. It will extend the vitality of the living room of the city, reflect the quality of citizens' life in Guangzhou, and draw a painting of the Pearl River in the context of the new era.

It is worth mentioning that the footbridge is the first landmark building in the core section of the central axis of Guangzhou designed by local architects. It is the result of the joint design, cooperation and efforts of the Architectural Design & Research Institute of South China University of Technology and Guangzhou Municipal Engineering Design & Research Institute. The collaboration of the two teams was highly successful and has brought about high-quality work.

In short, the first footbridge across the Pearl River in Guangzhou is a bridge of technology as well as a bridge of culture and art. We believe that it will become part of Guangzhou people's life and memory as well as a part of Guangzhou's history.

Thank you!

Sources: Guangzhou Daily, Information Office of Guangzhou Municipal Government

Editor: Lv Yun