See more objects with the tag water, walking, curved, movement, pedestrians, bridge, transformation, asia, accessible.

See more objects with the color darkgrey grey darkslategrey saddlebrown or see all the colors for this object.

Object Timeline

  • We acquired this object.

2010

  • Work on this object began.

2015

2025

  • You found it!

Jiading Bridge (unbuilt)

This is a Jiading Bridge (unbuilt). It was designed by Heatherwick Studio and Thomas Heatherwick. It is dated 2010.

How can a traditional Chinese moon bridge meet today’s standards of accessibility?
The studio adapted the elegant S-curves of historical Chinese moon bridges to design a 65-foot-long waterway span for the Shanghai satellite town of Jiading. The hydraulic-powered bridge is constructed from threaded C-shaped sections: they flatten for wheelchairs and rear up into a hump, with pedestrian stairs, for passing boats underneath. Unlike a conventional drawbridge, this bridge is crossable in any position — up, down, or in between. The contrasting materials of the sections— exterior machined steel and interior bronze —visually accentuate the bridge’s transformative movement.

It is credited Courtesy of Heatherwick Studio.

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition Provocations: The Architecture and Design of Heatherwick Studio.

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-5.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/85006459/ |title=Jiading Bridge (unbuilt) |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=4 November 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>