Isn’t it but obvious that the longest bench is located in a country that has the longest wall? That country of course is China, and Qinhuangdao is the place which boasts of a red steel bench that runs alongside the Tnghe River for half a kilometer. The bench may not be as longs as the Great Wall but this hasn’t stopped it from being named as one of the seven wonders of the architecture world by the readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine. The Red Ribbon (as the bench has been named) is located in the Tanghe River Park and is set against the beautiful backdrop of natural vegetation. The minimalist design is multi-faceted since it provides seating, lighting, and environmental orientation.
The basic objective behind building this daddy of all benches was to build an urban landscape, and at the same time go in for minimum intervention into the natural habitats. The bench is made of fiber steel and is lit from inside to glow red at night. It stands at 60 cm high and its width varies from 30-150 cm, the length, as already said is 500 m. Kongjian Yu was the designing head behind this mega project and the red bench is a great distraction in the densely vegetated area. Urbanization and modernization within the ecological confines is the great message that the Red Ribbon Project sends across.