Urban Zipper

By:  | March - 20 - 2025

Editors’ Choice
2024 Skyscraper Competition

Jin Yurong, Li Yaning, Lei Yu, Zhao Jingjia, Shiliang Wang, Jiang An
China

With urban density increasing and traffic pressure growing, viaducts have become a fast and efficient mode of transport in many cities, but their construction has created lost spaces under bridges, which inconvenience grassroots and damage urban texture, coherence and wholeness. These spaces often cause people to use more time-consuming travel means, increasing travel time and costs, and crime rates, impacting physical and mental health. Some cities install facilities like car parks and shops but cannot effectively utilize these spaces due to lack of planning. How to efficiently utilize these lost spaces is a key issue to address. Additionally, effective management and utilization of these spaces can also improve the quality of urban life.

Under the trend of high-density urban sprawl, viaducts have gradually become a product of the era of high-speed urbanization, and in the rapid expansion of urban sprawl, the space under the bridges is often neglected, making these spaces defined as “lost spaces” because they are neglected, abandoned or considered as marginalized spaces that are not suitable for living.

At the same time, marginalised by the rapid development of the city are the underclass, who are often in a vulnerable position in society, facing social exclusion and economic difficulties. The lack of support and assistance from social networks makes it difficult for them to integrate into urban life. We define this group as the “Lost People”.

The project site is located underneath the Googongyan Viaduct in Chongqing. The viaduct divides the neighbouring communities into isolated islands, blocking communication between communities and affecting the vitality of the area. The underclass is suffering from economic pressure, social injustice, social discrimination and other factors that make it difficult for them to survive. The design will incorporate commercial modules and public spaces to build a personalised community through a combination of these, helping the underclass to meet their survival needs and create economic value, so that they can better integrate into the urban society and improve their quality of life. At the same time, it promotes the connection between communities and the development of economic vitality in the region. Let the “lost people” activate the “lost places” and the “lost place”.

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