武汉·光谷黄金十字轴天桥和两山城市阳台设计Optics Valley Golden Cross Axis Footbridges and Two-Mountain Urban Terraces, Wuhan

We see the future urban park as a place for reflection and learning: visitors can experience nature’s changes while considering their relationship with the environment through landscape art. Drawing on the curatorial model of land art, the proposal uses suspended-monorail stations as anchors linking existing and new installations dispersed through the landscape. This Land Art Corridor centres on Longquan Mountain, Jiufeng Mountain and the Golden Cross Axis intersection, extending along the ecological corridor. Responding to their respective settings, the three nodes explore “Interweaving”, “Balance” and “Dialogue”, drawing on Optics Valley’s culture, history, ecology and technology.

Interweaving — Golden Cross Axis Footbridge

A circular footbridge, 290 m in diameter and just 6 m wide at its narrowest point, reconnects four urban parks separated by major roads. Its generous diameter brings visitors into different environments, with stepped viewing platforms facing Jiufeng and Longquan mountains.

The bridge floats over the lake, rises with the hillside, passes through woodland and touches down on grass, creating encounters with lakes, streams, woods and waterfalls within the existing park. A light, slender structure reduces its environmental presence. Gentle, continuous ramps connect urban greenways, cycle routes, accessible circulation, metro stations and suspended-monorail stations across different levels.

The proposal interweaves ecology, urban life, technology and transport. Rather than opposing one another, the city and nature are brought into a shared composition.

Balance — Jiufeng Mountain Urban Terrace

The Jiufeng terrace is a slender cantilever, 120 m long and 6 m wide, set perpendicular to the ridge. Balanced like a seesaw above the mountain, it seeks to minimise disturbance to the landscape. Its north and south ends point towards Optics Valley Central City and the forest park, forming a Jiufeng cross that echoes the Golden Cross Axis. Walking between the city and nature, visitors see the forest unfold through a long horizontal window. A rooftop observatory, sunset window, curved seating and glass floor enrich the viewing experience.

The cantilever allows existing vegetation to be retained as far as possible. Trees, shrubs, ground cover and climbing plants around the building create a layered, species-rich landscape with seasonal variation.

Both restrained and dramatic, the proposal draws out Jiufeng’s particular artistic tension. The light, straight terrace contrasts with the folded mass of the mountain, bringing the constructed and natural worlds into balance.

Longquan Mountain Urban Terrace

The Longquan terrace is an ellipsoidal optical installation, 24 m high and 7 m thick. Concave and convex mirrors on its north and south faces reflect Optics Valley Central City and Lingquan Temple at the foot of the mountain. Turning edges to the east and west produce changing reflections of Longquan Mountain and Baoxie Lake.

Twin helical ramps spiral around the atrium, providing a continuous sequence of panoramic views at different heights.

Trees, clouds, the lake, city, temple and visitors’ own images appear across the varied reflective glass, continually fragmenting and recombining like a dream.

Removing the existing concrete platform and viewing pavilion restores the original ridgeline. The new structure rests lightly on the summit, while its shadow lines at the 24 solar terms define a pattern in the landscape.

Like a sundial, the building registers time and the changing natural world; like a lens, it reflects cycles of life and the universe. It stages a dialogue between nature and construction, and between the body and the world.