Huangpu District has the largest number of historical features in Shanghai, a large number of historical old buildings, how to make these old buildings built for a long time, washed over the years not only have a good appearance, but also have a decent "Lizi", and drive the vitality of the entire neighborhood, Huangpu District has been actively exploring. With a "100th birthday gift" adjacent to Xintiandi and opposite Fuxing Park, with a century-old history, does such an old house arouse your curiosity? But if you had come to Yongfeng Village on the south side of Chongqing Road a few years ago, you might not have been able to bear to look closely — the two rows of bungalow villas, although still in their rough appearance, show traces of age everywhere. Due to the lack of repairs, the overall living environment of Yongfeng Village is not satisfactory, and problems such as broken walls, aging power lines, and poor fire passages plague residents. In order to effectively improve the living environment of residents and restore old bungalows with dignity, since 2019, The Street of Huaihai Middle Road in Huangpu District has implemented the "Beautiful Home" construction project for Yongfeng Village, and gradually promoted the renovation project of bungalow villas in the community.
Yongfeng Village.
Yongfeng Village Community was built in 1919, is an earlier apartment lane residential, was awarded the third batch of excellent historical protection buildings in Shanghai, and 2019 is its "100th birthday". For such buildings with considerable historical, social, artistic and humanistic values, they must be carefully repaired and protected. To this end, Huaihai Middle Road Street hired a design unit with cultural relics protection project qualifications, and strictly followed the principle of rational utilization, the principle of minimum intervention, the principle of recognizability, the principle of authenticity and the principle of reversibility for project design. According to the person in charge of the street, after the completion of the initial design plan, the District Housing Management Bureau, the District Refinement Office and the street first took the lead in organizing the design protection experts to review the design plan to ensure that the design plan met the requirements of the governance of the historic protected building; before the official construction of the project, the experts were again organized to carefully review the construction plan. During the construction process, the street regularly held regular engineering meetings to coordinate the key and difficult issues in the construction process in a timely manner. In the face of major events, experts will also be invited to guide and check on the spot, carefully examine the original design data, and repair the key protection parts and details according to the original style, original materials and original processes. For example, when repairing the pebble wall of the building façade, the construction party once made a difficulty: how to paste the pebbles of different sizes and colors? Later, the construction team made a sample of the pebble wall with different color proportions on the spot, and after inviting experts to confirm, this led to the beautiful and atmospheric pebble wall that people now see. People who have a heart may also find an "Easter egg" - a building still retains a primitive pebble wall of about 1 square meter, and it is really impossible to see it without looking closely. After the completion of the project, the District Housing Management Bureau, the District Refinement Office and the street once again organized experts to conduct acceptance review to ensure that the quality of the project meets the requirements of historical building protection.
"This is what we saw when we were children" Today, looking into the Yongfeng Village community, from the walls and roads to the mailboxes and drying racks are in harmony with the appearance and temperament of the historical buildings, even the garbage bin room in the center of the community has been taken into account - the original white tiles are too conspicuous, and after the cobblestone tiles are re-pasted, they are smoothly integrated into the environment and are easy to rinse and clean. In order to let the residents living here have a stronger sense of gain, the street and the neighborhood committee have visited many times, and strive to restore the historical original appearance of the community in more details. The Roman columns above the wall, which seem bland to outsiders, have a story behind them. In 2019, when the first phase of the renovation project of Yongfeng Village was carried out, the street found that there were traces of reconstruction in a section of the wall of No. 9 Yongfeng Village, which was inconsistent with the architectural style, so relevant research was carried out. After some searching, the staff found a relatively well-maintained section of the wall in the courtyard of No. 8, and its Roman columns were clearly visible. Because No. 8 and No. 9 are symmetrical structures, the appearance of the No. 9 wall before it was rebuilt was also determined. But this Roman column is a product of 100 years ago, and it is not easy to recover. The street specially invited an experienced teacher to remake the mold against the Roman column in the 8th courtyard, and after several attempts, it was finally successful.
Restored Roman columns.
As soon as the wall of No. 9 was restored, it immediately attracted the attention of the old residents of the lane, and everyone said, "This is what we saw when we were young." New questions ensued. The walls of Yongfeng Village No. 1-5 have also been converted into a physical wall nearly 3 meters high in the past, and the old residents hope to restore its original appearance. To this end, the staff of Huaihai Middle Road Street and Fusi Neighborhood Committee visited residents one by one, and finally found a breakthrough when visiting the residents of No. 2 household. The resident suggested that a photograph of his parents standing in the alley when they were young for a group photo just happened to record what the original wall looked like. The staff then asked the construction party to choose a section of the wall for experimental transformation, and finally successfully completed. In the Yongfeng Village community, it is not only the appearance that has changed, but also the "Lizi". In 2020, Huaihai Middle Road Street will renovate the buildings no. 1-4, Lane 179, Chongqing South Road, and No. 177 Chongqing South Road as planned. During the preliminary visit, the Fusi Residential Committee and Yongjia Property found that there was a serious phenomenon of random piles on the first floor - residents piled up their own waste and debris in the public walkways and common kitchens on the ground floor, leaving people with nowhere to stay. In order to solve this thorny problem as soon as possible, the neighborhood committee and the property have organized 6 coordination meetings for residents, and finally all residents have agreed. On November 25 and 26 of the same year, the Huaihai Middle Road Street Management Office, the Fusi Neighborhood Committee, the Street Green Shelter, the community police, the Yongjia Property and the construction team carried out joint logistics linkage to help residents clean up the health dead end together. In the process, individual residents are very nostalgic for their own dilapidated escalators and wheelchairs, and the cadres of the neighborhood committee intimately inform the elderly that the neighborhood committee will store escalators and other convenient tools for everyone to borrow at the doorman of the community. After the pile was cleaned up, the street remodeled the communal kitchen. The kitchen has been re-posted with tiles, floor tiles, updated cabinets and ceilings, replaced water buckets and lamps. The walls of the corridors have been repainted and the electrical wiring has been rearranged. After the renovation, the bright and clean public space has been praised by residents.
Brand new common kitchen.
At present, the renovation of some buildings is still continuing, and the centennial Yongfeng Village has been rejuvenated.
Column Editor-in-Chief: Tang Ye Text Editor: Wu Yue Title Map Source: Huaihai Middle Road Street Courtesy Map
Source: Author: Wu Yue