MADWORKSHOP has been working on a two-semester collaborative studio project with SCI-Arc, Ball Nogues, and the Huntington Gardens. The students of SCI-Arc and Ball-Nogues have been working on a new bridge design that would be at the world-renown Huntington Japanese Gardens in Pasadena, California.

In the first semester of the studio, students went on frequent site visits to the Huntington Library Gardens with James Folsom and Ball-Nogues. After visiting the Japanese Gardens, the students were inspired by Japanese Ikebana arrangements. This inspiration has led the students to study and challenge the technology of new fabrication techniques and materials to re-create the art and beauty of Ikebana in a large scale bridge design under the instruction and guidance of Ball-Nogues.

By the second semester, students studied the circulation of the Japanese Garden. The discovery of circulation patterns of the Japanese Garden led students to transform the initial bridge proposal into a pathway that would offer a new perspective of viewing the surrounding landscape. We’re very excited to share this new vision and perspective of perceiving the Huntington Gardens. Here we would like to share some of the imagery of the gardens envisioned by the students.