A bird's-eye view of Jiangyin Greenway [Photo/WeChat account: wuxifabu2013]
The Jiangyin Greenway won a 2020 Architizer A+Award in August, which is considered the Oscars of architecture.
More than 400 professionals and over 200 million readers voted for thousands of architecture works. Chinese participants won a total of 29 awards, including Beijing Daxing Airport.
Opened in 2019, the Jiangyin Greenway spans about five kilometers and aims to provide residents a creative, progressive, and livable city.
The entire greenway is built in steel and utilizes pre-fabricated methods to reduce the impact on the park.
A steel structure with a colored bituminous concrete screed gives the greenway both the potential for prefabrication, as well as a durable low-maintenance and long-wearing surface.
Columns supporting the greenway are at 16 meter centers in areas where there is no head height for human activity. The column spacing increases to 32 meters in areas where there is head height to make the space more flexible for community activities.
The greenway consists of four clearly identifiable segments, each reflecting the unique characteristics of their location. The north segment of the loop has already been built and passes through the docklands parks. It reflects the area's history of shipbuilding and its port function. The east segment of the loop leads to the Yangtze River, the river to which Jiangyin owes its existence.
The greenway is much more than just an elevated walkway. [Photo/WeChat account: wuxifabu2013]
The greenway is much more than just an elevated walkway. It seeks to generate better urban spaces, bring order to previously random and disconnected decision making, as well as engage with the best of contemporary aesthetics. The project aims to solve problems, extend local iconography, be cost effective, as well as open up social opportunities for the public.
The Jiangyin Greenway is a thoughtful and gentle response to the existing paths and the substantial well established planting material. Its design features: solid and transparent balustrades providing privacy or views; sound walls near the freeway for the comfort of pedestrians; arbors to provide shade and enclosure; widenings with seating at locations overlooking lakes and canals; landmark bridges with sculptural trusses framing views for pedestrians; stairs located at street intersections to link existing pedestrian paths to the new greenway; and surprising additional programs that bolster the adjacent city programs.
The journey along the greenway boasts a number of features, such as a number of variously scaled events, an amphitheater for performances or relaxing, a raised plaza with permanent sound instruments for all to play, as well as an exercise playground with nets, slides, and a gentle climbing ramp for all ages, which in totality have created a versatile and award-winning place for the public to enjoy.
