Lucky Knot Bridge Is Spectacular Pedestrian Infrastructure

Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province, is a booming place. It has its charms, including beautiful rivers and lakes. Development is happening everywhere, including the Meixi Lake District to the west of town. NowNEXT architectshave built the Lucky Knot, a beautiful new pedestrian bridge over the Dragon King Harbour River (and a highway) in the Meixi district.

According to the architect,

The bridge is a key project in developing the area’s public space, and was designed with recreational, ecological and tourist activities in mind. The bridge connects multiple levels at different heights (the river banks, the road, the higher-placed park as well as the interconnections between them). The final shape of the bridge is the result of -literally and metaphorically- knotting all these routes together.

© NEXT architects

“幸运结的形状的灵感来自于principle of the Mobius ring, as well as by the Chinese knotting art. In the ancient decorative Chinese folk art, the knot symbolises luck and prosperity,” says John van de Water, partner at NEXT architects Beijing. The bridge owes its imaginative appeal to the combining of tradition and modernity.

© NEXT architects

It also manages to mix a bit of the traditional Chinese Moon Bridge, with its steep stairs, with flatter, easier to manage sections (although it does not look totally accessible, which I thought all bridges in China had to be)

© NEXT architects

“The Lucky Knot is more than a bridge and a connection between two river banks. Its success lays in bringing cultures together, and in the fusion of history, technology, art, innovation, architecture and spectacle,” adds NEXT architects Beijing partner Jiang Xiaofei.

There is also an interesting lesson here in the power of a rendering, and of good photography. Look at the rendering that won the competition here, with a wide river full of big yachts and surrounded by green:

© Next Architects

The reality is somewhat more prosaic.

© NEXT architects

From above it is even more extreme; the river looks like a drainage ditch.

© Xanhua

But hey, compared to every other bridge in Changsha, it is pretty spectacular. And it demonstrates the power of a good rendering and a talented photographer, as well as a good architect who naturally wants to show his best side.

Lloyd Alter/ Changsha/CC BY 2.0

Changsha is an interesting city; it is where Mao started his career. I visited it twice as it is home of Broad Sustainable Buildings. It really needs decent public infrastructure.