LUMINOUS TUNNEL - DOS RESTAURANT | MARS studio

LUMINOUS TUNNEL - DOS RESTAURANT

• Architetti di Interni

TIME STANDS STILL

At the end of last year, invited by Intime Group, we were commissioned to undertake an independent design proposal within the High Line Park currently under construction in Tongzhou, Beijing. Rather than a project with a predetermined site and program, this was an exploration of how to discover a meaningful place within a constantly evolving urban landscape.

At that time, the entire park was still under construction. The site transformed every day — machinery, vehicles, materials, temporary fences and ongoing construction activities all reflected a space undergoing rapid change.

Yet, when we stepped beneath the bridge, the atmosphere suddenly shifted. Above the bridge was an active construction site; beyond it was the continuous rhythm of the city; while underneath was a quiet, shadowed and slowed-down space, seemingly separated from the surrounding flow of time.

It was precisely this contrast that made us stop. The overlooked space beneath the bridge became the starting point of our design.

FORGOTTEN URBAN CORNER

Underbridge spaces often exist as contradictions within cities. They serve as infrastructure for transportation, movement and connection, yet they are frequently overlooked and rarely become places where people choose to stay.

Our design did not aim to simply enclose the underbridge space. Instead, we sought to preserve its original public nature, allowing it to remain a shared space for passersby, cyclists and visitors wandering through the High Line Park.

The design therefore divides the space beneath the bridge into two parts: one half becomes a glass-enclosed light dining restaurant and bar, while the other remains an open public corridor. The dining space introduces moments of pause, while the passage continues to support movement. Two different urban behaviors coexist beneath the same bridge, transforming an originally inactive grey space into a place with new possibilities of use.

VIRTUALITY AND REALITY BENEATH THE BRIDGE

Within the bridge structure, the design introduces a new spatial interface. Through a central division, the space is transformed into a dual experience of solid and void: one side becomes the restaurant and bar, an interior space enclosed by glass; the other remains an arched corridor, a public passage reserved for pedestrians and cyclists.

This intervention allows the underbridge space to move beyond being merely a “gap” or a “passageway”. Instead, it becomes a place that can be observed, reflected upon and traversed.

Solid and void, interior and exterior, staying and passing through — different spatial experiences coexist simultaneously within the same section of the bridge.

TRACES OF TIME

The inner façade of the corridor is designed with mirrored glass, becoming the most significant spatial interface of the project. It separates the restaurant from the public passage while simultaneously dissolving this boundary through continuous reflections.

As people move beneath the bridge, their silhouettes, the curves of the arches, shifting lights and activities inside the restaurant are captured and layered upon the mirrored surface. The limited dimensions of the underbridge space are visually extended, repeated and transformed, creating the impression of a luminous tunnel formed by overlapping layers of light and time.

Passing pedestrians are naturally drawn into this interplay between reality and illusion, pausing to explore the boundary between the physical space and its reflected counterpart.

The bridge is no longer simply a dark passage quickly crossed within the city, but becomes a spatial fragment filled with imagination and memory. This is also where the name “Luminous Tunnel” originates.

LIGHT SHAPES THE BRIDGE

The newly introduced arched elements engage in a dialogue with the existing bridge structure. The arch language reinforces spatial continuity while creating a clearer rhythm along the circulation path.

For an underbridge space, light becomes a crucial tool for activation. During the day, the restaurant interior emits a soft “sky blue” atmosphere, bringing a sense of lightness and color to the previously shadowed environment.

At night, blue, pink and gradient lighting blend across the arched surfaces, creating a dynamic rhythm of light and shadow.

Light is no longer merely a means of illumination, but becomes a material that reshapes the space. It reduces the heaviness traditionally associated with underbridge environments while making this urban grey space more visible and recognizable after dark.

REVEALING THE HIDDEN SIDE OF THE CITY

“Luminous Tunnel” does not attempt to transform the underbridge space through an intensive intervention. Instead, it represents a subtle approach: preserving movement, introducing new functions, reinforcing the existing architectural language, and using reflection and light to awaken an overlooked urban space.

For diners, it becomes a space embraced by the bridge structure, carrying a dreamlike atmosphere of blue tones and suspended time. For passersby, it becomes an urban corridor reactivated through light and shadow.

Within the constantly evolving urban context of Tongzhou High Line Park, “Luminous Tunnel” gives a seemingly ordinary and neglected underbridge space new layers of color, vitality and imagination — transforming it into a place worth pausing, experiencing and remembering.