The project site is located in Wanli, New Taipei City, Taiwan, and is strategic access to both the Jinshan-Wanli Cycling Route and the local beach. It is adjacent to what used to be a parking for trucks. Anyway, the utilization rate of this parking was low, and it was situated in the middle of a long span where no access to the coastline was available. Moreover, the site was environmentally rich since surrounded by coastal forests that offer a relevant habitat for sea eagles. Several migratory organisms, such as estuarine crabs and fishes, lived in the place, too.
That is, the site offered a crucial spot for developing the landscape and its accessibility. Within the framework of a large-scale landscape and public space improvement plan still under implementation, the design of a pedestrian bridge on the site, connecting the coastal speedway and the coastline while crossing the Yuantan River, represented the core mandate of this project. Anyhow, the new bridge's design aims not only at the spatial connection across the river. It also tries to create the opportunity for connecting with the river, looking at the landscape, and materializing a gateway to the coast. The built structure is intentionally oversimplified and sturdy, finished in a hammered concrete fashion. While this provides a feeling of 'roughness' that suits the coastal landscape, the displacement of the architectural elements is carefully studied. The deck of the bridge is slightly elevated to provide a better viewpoint; access ramps are dislocated to allow specific sights of landscape highlights; a staircase to access the riverside is inserted into the buttress structure to provide the opportunity to interact with the freshwater; the only pillar of the bridge is shaped monumentally to resist flood waters but provide enough 'decorum' to qualify the riverside as public space; a light pole memorializes the local light-fishing system, and the design of the fence faces construction challenges with shapes and materials that suggest fishing nets.
In short, through shape, materiality, and details, the Wanli bridge's design aims to enhance the coastal landscape experience and remind passers-by that the sea is at close reach to their lives.
