The Dong’an Lake Sports Park Bridge, designed by Atelier-Sizhou, stands as a contemporary response to how urban infrastructure can shape everyday experience beyond mobility. Built for the Chengdu FISU World University Games, the bridge was awarded Jury Winner in the Transportation Infrastructure category at the 2024 Architizer A+Awards. Led by Xianshu Jin and Jia Liu, Atelier-Sizhou approaches the project not as a neutral connector, but as an active public space embedded in the city’s social and spatial life.
Connecting One Stadium and Three Gyms
Located in Dong’an New Town, within Chengdu’s eastward expansion zone, the bridge links the main stadium and three major sports facilities into a continuous pedestrian system. During the Games, this elevated connection significantly improved circulation efficiency. After the event, its role shifts toward public use, transforming into a landscape bridge that enhances accessibility, supports daily recreation, and integrates seamlessly with surrounding open spaces.
Rather than isolating itself as event infrastructure, the bridge was conceived as a long-term urban asset. It connects terraces, playgrounds, and plazas, allowing the park to function as a cohesive civic landscape long after the crowds of international competition have left.
Spatial Experience Through Movement
The bridge extends outward from the stadium terraces and gradually spirals downward toward the heart of the site. This movement creates a layered walking experience defined by changing elevations and visual perspectives. As it wraps around the children’s playground, the structure forms a semi-enclosed spatial condition, balancing openness with a sense of protection.
Intermediate platforms at varying heights act as informal viewing points, encouraging pauses rather than pure transit. In this way, circulation becomes experiential, reinforcing the idea that movement itself can be an architectural event rather than a purely functional act.
Structural Clarity and Visual Identity
Structurally, the bridge is built around a 1000mm-thick steel box girder system, supported by hexagonal V-shaped columns spanning 20 to 30 meters. The structure’s bold orange color deliberately contrasts with the surrounding greenery, visually expressing direction and flow while making the bridge legible from a distance.
This structural clarity supports the project’s ambition to act as a landmark without resorting to formal excess. The geometry remains direct, readable, and honest to its engineering logic.
Lightweight Skin and Night Presence
The bridge’s corridor skin consists of two 3mm steel plates tied together, forming a lightweight envelope. A white outer layer reflects both the orange structure and the green landscape, visually reducing the bridge’s mass. Integrated lighting between the plates creates a layered nighttime presence, allowing the bridge to glow subtly without overpowering the park.
Through this restrained yet expressive approach, Atelier-Sizhou reinforces its ongoing exploration of how unconventional bridge design can foster urban public life. The Dong’an Lake Sports Park Bridge ultimately proves that infrastructure, when thoughtfully designed, can become a social space rather than a mere passage.
| Technical Sheet | |
|---|---|
| Project Name | Dong’an Lake Sports Park Bridge of Chengdu FISU World University Games |
| Location | Chengdu World Universiade Park, Sichuan, China |
| Architect | Atelier-Sizhou (Xianshu Jin & Jia Liu) |
| Client | CR LAND West China Region |
| Structural Engineer | Sichuan Provincial Architectural Design and Research Institute (SADI) |
| Lighting Designer | Lichtvision Design |
| Budget | USD 6 Million |
| Completion Year | 2022 |
| Photographer | Arch-Exist |