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Architects: Lab D+H
- Area: 25000 m²
- Year: 2019
- Photographs: Bin Lu, TUNGSTEN STUDIO
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Lead Architects: Zhongwei Li, Nan Lin
Bridge life Neighborhood park
The Bridgelife Neighborhood is a vibrant public space amenity at the junction of three districts, namely Baoshan, Hongkou and Yangpu District in Shanghai. It was an abandoned Japanese thermal bottle factory named Nissho with more than 20 years of history. The once-popular and extraordinary factory site has become quiet and abnormal, showing signs of decline. We hope to create a "connected bridge" for the district to fully utilize the functions of public communities while protecting historical elements and senses. We retrofit a great number of community features and variable urban space into the venue. The landscape function of the Bridgelife is not singular, but an adaptable place that can be transformed according to changes in users and time. The key idea is to protect this historical heritage with minimized renewal but make it to a park that offers distinct, multi-dimensional experiences. It aims to create a new community center that integrates commercial, cultural, creative, and sports uses through the transformation of old industrial plants.
The overall development is divided into two stages; the current phase is its first stage of development. The developed Bridgelife Neighborhood Park, Sports District, and Business District have their own identities complementing each other. On the other hand, residents have one more public space for gatherings and recreational venues. The interactive dialogue will become the new normal for everyone living in the neighborhood.
Retention of historical memory
At the beginning of the renovation, the design team noticed the historical imprint of the old thermos factory: over-sized factory buildings, towering chimneys, and freely growing camphor trees. Precious city memories should not be easily erased as an agreed concept. Designers want to protect and retain the main historic landmarks, and even divide the public space of the new scheme around them.
The minimal renewal
In this landscape transformation project, to activate and revitalize the community more effectively, we want to achieve a better result through a minimal renewal of the industrial heritage. They not only make extensive use of the existing natural landscapes, but also retain a large number of native trees, and also enhance the effect by introducing efficient ground cover plants; instead of using expensive stone materials, the use of precast concrete with relatively low price and higher cost performance is used instead. To save the cost, the intervention of site spaces is also minimized. According to the original landform and traffic flow characteristics, a new main entrance is planned and designed, avoiding unnecessary space rearrangements. The market square, the community park, the health line, and the vegetated avenue, each has its own merits.
Rich community features
Due to the limitation of the original factory layout, only leftover narrow corridors could be used for the public. The Health Line with the setting of the boulevard is built for residents. We use a 600-meter long night runway to connect different areas and deepen the potential of each venue. Community functions and variable urban spaces are injected into the site.
Within Bridgelife Neighborhood, the old memories of the residents are still there, and the new future continues. The sense of history and modernity is silently celebrated in the joyful laughter of the residents. The updated Bridgelife is more than just a vibrant neighborhood in a tandem community, but also a more valuable urban living room.
