Bulletin No. 1, 2013

Let’s Build a Bridge 23  That bridge was constructed in the Miao ethnic region of Zhaotong in Yunnan. The Miao’s traditional bridges were covered, so the students wanted to build one with a roof. Wan Li said Professor Ng asked her many times, ‘Are you sure you want to build a covered bridge?’ Later she discovered that construction of such a structure was far more complex than she had imagined. ‘I began to realize that architecture is not just about drawing,’ she recounted. ‘Your drawings have to materialize into an object through construction. From then on, I would think twice before flirting with fanciful designs.’ Wan Li had joined the Wu Zhi Qiao project out of curiosity and with the intention of spicing up her student life. She had never thought that it would change the direction of her career. But after getting her Master’s, she shelved her original plan of joining an architectural firm. ‘Life offers us many choices. We don’t all have to tread the same path. I was interested in eco-architecture and Professor Ng’s research interest was sustainable design, so I came here to further my studies.’ In 2009, she became Professor Ng’s doctoral student at the Chinese University. After that her role in the project became more important. She was in charge of planning and leading. Wan Li is also the leader of the latest Wu Zhi Qiao project. She said the greatest challenge was time. ‘We need a year to plan a project, but this time we only had about six months. There was also a greater number of people and institutions involved, which posed unprecedented challenges to transportation and accommodation arrangements,’ she remarked.