My father is an old friend of Huang Yongyu
My father’s name is Zhang Kaiji
He is also an architect
Six years ago, Mr. Huang decided to build an art museum in his hometown
He was 90 years old then
And I was entrusted with the mission
He said that you are an architect anyway
The location is Qianzhou ancient city
And the Wanrong River runs through the city
This is Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
And Jishou is the capital
Mr.Huang has donated nine bridges to the city of Fenghuang and Jishou
And I was standing on one of them as I called him
I suggested that we build another bridge
And bring the museum to the doorsteps of the city dwellers
And he agreed right away
We built two bridges actually, one on top of the other
The upper one is arched
Which kind of resembles traditional roofs
And if you look closer
You will see that it’s absolutely different than the Fengyu bridge
And neither is it anything like the nearby residences
It’s old but not old, new yet not new
Those tall cement walls
Are mixed products of broken river rocks
And cement mortar
Mainly there are three spaces
The lower footbridge
The mezzanine exhibition hall and the upper gallery
The bridge spans about 60 meters
It connects two streets
Very close to the adjacent houses
The steel trusses of the lower footbridge
Appears the original color of steel
So a little bit of yellow in red
And paint is not necessary here
And vendors can set up stalls here selling stuff
And the vision is that many would come here and relax in the shade
The gallery is part of the bridge
Every day you pass by the bridge whether on your way to work or to markets
Or when you take your children to school
We put in lots of thought and effort in the indoor staircases
These kind of showy stairs life up people’s expectation
As a space which has the potential to show different art works
The lighting is rather important
If sculptures are displayed
Natural lighting is the best
While when we show paintings
Natural light is less than ideal
And on the upper floor we installed many skylights
But light doesn’t penetrate right through them
Now in this huge exhibition hall, from walls to the roof
A light adjusting mechanism made of tiles is put in place
It is not supposed to be too bright
One should be able to see the view
See himself walking over the river
See people on the banks, fishing, doing laundries
What we have in mind is not a palace of art
Rather we want to have a public art area of and for the city
Where every member of the city enjoys themselves
How come the art museum lies on a bridge
The floor isn’t flat
And you can cross the river under the museum
The last time I showed Mr. Huang the picture, it was not 100% done
He cared a lot about it
Because he cared a lot about his hometown
If you ever read
His autobiographical novel
You would know