Qingsong Chen Chen

The Bridge

This project addresses the critical spatial disconnection of Riverdale Park in Toronto, where roads, railways, and the rerouted Don River have fragmented the park into two isolated halves. What initially appeared to be a lack of landscape and activity diversity evolved into a deeper investigation of urban rupture and access inequality. Within a corridor over one kilometer wide, only one narrow pedestrian bridge currently connects the east and west sides.Through extensive historical research, I uncovered the site's layered past—including the original path of the Don River and the canceled Riverdale Road bridge. These forgotten elements inspired a design strategy that transforms historical fragmentation into an opportunity for ecological and social reconnection.The proposed solution is a slender, pedestrian-friendly bridge that overlays the restored meandering course of the Don River. Shaped in a gentle catenary curve, the bridge gradually guides users down to a floodable river-level platform, encouraging slower movement and deeper engagement with the site's natural and cultural narratives. The bridge integrates sustainable materials—primarily wood over concrete—and clearly separates pedestrian and cycling paths to ensure safety and comfort.More than a crossing, the bridge becomes a living infrastructure: adaptive to flood cycles, embedded in ecological processes, and responsive to historical memory. It redefines connectivity not as speed, but as presence—an invitation to move slowly, remember deeply, and connect meaningfully.

“This thesis confronts the spatial disconnection that divides Riverdale Park—and the city of Toronto itself—into fragmented halves, severed by roads, rail, and a rerouted Don River. Through historical research, the project uncovers the original riverbed and a once-planned but unbuilt Riverdale Road bridge. These findings become the basis for a new pedestrian and cycling connection that reframes infrastructure as landscape. By restoring the river's meandering course and embedding a slender, sleek, floodable bridge within it, the design reweaves ecological continuity, public accessibility, and historical memory—offering not just a crossing, but a renewed relationship between people, place, history, and nature.”