Location

Nanjing, China

Program

City master plan

Size

12.7 square kilometers

Dates

2013-2014

Key Staff

Eric McNevin, Andrew Wright, Kim Lagercrantz

The Bridge City is one component of a multi-city master plan located outside of Nanjing, China. The other cities in the plan are the Mountain Island City, the Superblock City, and the City Gate / Concentric City.

Roadways on the edge of the existing lake are connected across the water (north-south and east-west) via an elevated Bridge. All new development is located along this Bridge over the water, thus preserving the surrounding landscape.

As the road begins to elevate over the lake, it separates into two separate driving surfaces with each side containing one-way traffic. The inclined portions of the roadway are wrapped with a structural lattice that can support Photovoltaic panels to generate electricity.

There are a series of Infrastructure Tower Hybrids running east-west and north-south across the lake that hold the bridge and extend upward above the roadway as tower buildings. Above the road, the towers twist in plan to orient themselves to the south to maximize solar exposure to Photovoltaic panels that run the full height of their south façade. At the top of each tower wind energy is collected and converted to electricity. A perimeter residential building follows the outer edge of each roadway in order to maximizing views across the site and creates a new Bridge Town Prototype.

Each Infrastructure Tower Hybrid contains park and plaza space between the two roadway segments. The central bridge intersection contains a large plaza for public events. At water level, the base of each support structure also serves as a docking point for Rafts, a floating building prototype on either side of the bridge above.

A perimeter road circles the perimeter of the site, and can also serve as a road-racing track for special racing events. New low to medium density development is located between the road and the edge of the site, preserving the natural landscape along the lake’s edge.

The remainder of the site is left undeveloped.