ABSTRACT
This final chapter brings together all the woven arch examples – from Renaissance Italy, the nineteenth century US, the Song Dynasty North China, and more recently Southeast China – which have been discussed thoroughly and in-depth in the previous chapters, and looks at some further examples, from Norway, Germany, and Japan, comparing all the bridges with each other, to form a complete overview.
The chapter refutes a common (mis)understanding that the woven arch structures in different cultures are a result of cultural influence, suggesting that they instead developed in parallel and independently, namely, they exist in a ‘universal uniqueness’ or ‘shared isolation’ situation in their respective cultures. Furthermore, a game-like model inspired by nature plays an important role in the structural development in all these cultures. A new typology and evolutionary theory is developed to support the arguments.
This last chapter attempts to answer the question of why, when woven arch bridges appeared in so many cultures, they developed into a building tradition with mature construction only in China. The analysis of the bridges is used as a basis for a comparative analysis between East Asian and European timber building cultures, using perspectives from architectural tradition, construction methods and structural thoughts.
