A lifeline to a frequently inaccessible world

A specialist in the increasingly important discipline of Sustainable Architecture, Professor Edward Ng of the Chinese University of Hong Kong is a trusted advisor to both the HKSAR and Mainland Chinese Governments.

The only link between Maosi village in China’s Ganshu Province and the outside world was a makeshift bridge made of a tree trunk and two electricity poles. Before Ng’s new 80-metre bridge for the Wu Zhi Qiao Charitable Foundation, Maosi was totally isolated each time the flood-prone Tai Po river rose. Utilizing an Islamic crescent-inspired design and made from locally-sourced materials, Ng’s new bridge is both culturally sensitive and highly sustainable. Capable of withstanding floods of up to 5-meters high, its innovative, fully submersible, zigzag-oriented design is so durable, it also remains fully functional for 95% of the year. A fact that was underlined when the bridge survived a devastating flash flood just weeks after its opening in 2005.

Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation
www.bridge2china.org

吴恩融先生现爲香港中文大学建築系教授。自英国剑桥大学获得博士学位後，他曾在多所知名大学任教。生态可持续建築是吴教授多年来重点关注的研究领域。与此同时，吴教授联合相关领域的国际专家，开创幷亲自主持香港中文大学建築学系可持续环境设计理学硕士课程。受香港特区政府委托，他作爲环境顾问，制定了香港建築天然采光能效的建築规範和空气流通评估準则及其技术性方法，还被中国政府聘爲天然采光和建築能效专家顾问。吴教授在2005年7月结合中港两地专业人士和多所大学生的力量，在甘肃省毛寺村顺利建成首座“无止桥”，寓意爱无止境。之後与国家住房与城乡建设部合作於2007年4月正式成立无止桥慈善基金会，在内地贫困农村发展更多无止桥项目。现时爲该基金会的主席。