Bridging Teahouse

Bridging Teahouse is one of Jinhua Architecture Park’s seventeen pavilions in the new Jindong District, an area master planned by Herzog & de Meuron in 2003. The park, designed by artist Ai Weiwei, is set near the city’s Yiwu River on a strip of land some 1.25 miles (2 kilometers) long. Bridging Teahouse is a structure composed as a mirror: the lower part reflects the upper part and produces an effect of continuous space. It also explores the typological interaction between two traditional structures found in the gardens of Ancient China: a teahouse and a bridge. The bridge provides different platforms for diverse uses, containing micro-atmospheres for privacy and intimacy which generate distinct visual experiences.