Between Roar & Veil: Transforming Shanghai’s Highway Space into a Walkable Urban Realm

Shanghai, like many modern metropolises, has watched elevated highways slice through its urban fabric. These car-centric corridors have fragmented the city, creating harsh divisions between vehicles and people. The city once flowed through walkable, human-scale neighborhoods shaded by those beautiful French Wutong trees. Now it struggles with the fallout of massive infrastructure: soulless spaces, disconnected pedestrian routes, what we could call "big city disease."
Core Design Idea
This project pushes back against the rigid dominance of elevated highways by bringing back walkability, softness, and a sense of urban intimacy. This project uses a system of light, fabric-based interventions to transform these forgotten spaces into somethi ng alive and constantly changing.
The heart of our design is the strategic use of flowing, translucent curtains that mirror the seasonal shifts of the French Wutong trees. These fabrics, crafted from state-of-the-art sustainable materials recycled from biodegradable waste clothes, pay homage to Shanghai's rich heritage as the birthplace of China's modern textile industry. As the curtains dance with the wind and filter sunlight throughout the day, the space breathes and evolves, capturing something of the atmosphere of Shanghai's historic streets.
The project plays with contrasts:
Hard vs. Soft: Rigid concrete infrastructure meets flowing fabric that responds to every breeze
Permanent vs. Actively Maintained: Unlike the static highway, our intervention needs care and adaptation, creating community involvement
Urban vs. Private: Within the noise and density, the curtains carve out pockets of calm—places to gather or find a moment alone
Tranquil vs. Agitated: Traffic hums overhead while below, the gentle movement of fabric creates a complex sensory experience that's both stimulating and peaceful
As Shanghai shifts toward electric vehicles and cleaner air, these in-between spaces become more livable. Our intervention seizes this opportunity, creating adaptable, breathable civic spaces that give urban infrastructure back to the people who live with it.
Summary
This project breathes new life into forgotten highway spaces in Shanghai through ephemeral, fabric-based design. Flowing curtains soften the harsh infrastructure, echoing the city's historic walkable character while creating spaces that change with time, weather, and use. By bringing together softness and structure, movement and stillness, we're reclaiming fractured urban territory for human connection, sensory delight, and everyday interaction.