Stroll leisurely along Singapore's busiest shopping belt and you would have noticed something; there was literally no overheard bridges connecting pedestrians on both sides of the walkway.
And it was true. No overheard bridge for the entire stretch of Orchard Road until 26 April 2014 when Orchard Gateway was officially open, together with the glass sky-bridge you see in the above picture!
I have been waiting to check it out for the past year and the chance finally came last month when the Teo siblings decided to have dinner at 313 Somerset!
Its title as Orchard Road's first bridge didn't seem to attract much attention from the shoppers that were filling the stalls a few floor below; oh well, no complaint from me since i have always preferred places with less people.
Surrounded by a layer of glass, this bridge linking Orchard Gateway to Orchard Gateway@Emerald was air-conditioned although the setting sun created a greenhouse effect; making it slightly warmer for curious pedestrians.
The use of glass did help to provide weather-proof access for shoppers getting to the other side of the road but it somewhat distorted the view of Orchard Road that should have been more impressive!
Didn't stop visitors from taking photographs though.
3D artwork always injects an element of fun to a place and this particular art piece was aptly designed for the bridge!
Given how superstitious Asians (especially Chinese) are, it was a shocker to find this on a bridge! Bet the last thing customers want is a hole in the middle of the bridge!
Design of the bridge didn't quite blow me away in the insides even though it was a different story from the outside!
Curvature glass panes that gave the bridge its eye catching body - really hats off to those designers / architects! Guess the bridge must have cost a bomb!
To prevent the 3D art from being a reality, do note the structure limitation and that no dancing is allowed! Okay, it wasn't mentioned explicitly that dancing is prohibited but you can infer from the words "events that generate rhythmic response / vibrations".
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Location
Orchard Gateway, Singapore
[Connected to Somerset MRT Station]