Soften Infrastructure
2019 Fall
Individual Work
As the “First Bridge of the Yangtze River”, the Wuhan Yangtze River Bridge is an iconic historic infrastructure and is often seen as "a memorial to the success of the new democratic revolution." The bridge is not only a collective national memory but is also a collection of individual memories. It embraces huge cultural significance with respect to both grand collective national emotion and individual representation.
In modern times, the Wuhan Yangtze Great Bridge are combined tightly with civic life and public realm. The Wuhan Yangtze Great Bridge has witnessed vibrant civic life and becomes the most important physical symbol in Wuhan citizens’ life. The mechanical features of infrastructure have begun to soften and started to shed its cold and hidden image. The bridge embodies the essence of infrastructure by presenting how the contemporary infrastructure actively intervenes in modern life and transforms itself into new public space. A complementary spectrum of events is proposed around the softened infrastructure, from which we can see a mosaic of heterogeneous 21st century life. When the softened infrastructure is combined with special public events, customs, and rituals, the unity of the infrastructure and cultural ritual has an enormous influence emotionally, spiritually, and socially.
