Tai O Bridge

(With Bruce Gillespie + Lawrence Ho)

The concept of the bridge designs celebrate the closely intertwined relationship of the Tai O community with the fishing and salt field industries, as well as the cultural festivities where dragon boat races and parades become an integral part of the villagers’ lives.
The two bridges’ slender and simplistic steel and timber deck design minimizes the size of the main bridge structures, while highlighting the “floating” frameworks as features of celebration. The frameworks act as reminiscences to celebrate Tai O’s cultural and commercial traditions and allow a transparency which provides the best perspectives for the viewers during parades.

The wavy netscape featured on the Yim Tin Footbridge commemorates the fishing and salt industries and their relationship with water, and celebrating the importance of these industries as the main source of livelihood for Tai O throughout history. The freeform of the netscape mimics the fluidity of the fish net and tidal waves in action.

The stilt-like facade of the Po Chu Tam Footbridge casts an abstract reference to the slender framework of the existing stilt houses and timber bridges, as well as perpetuate the annual temporary bridge connection between the Yeung Hau Temple and the grounds for Chinese opera theatres on the opposite shore. The removable banners along the bridge echo the rhythmic and colorful flags at the dragon boat races.