Founded in 1925, Shanghai's outstanding historical buildings and famous Canton-style lanes - Yong'an Lane 1953, North Sichuan Road, ushered in the largest renovation in the history of 97 years. On February 21, at the construction site, the scaffolding of some houses had been erected and workers were repairing the houses.
Yong'anli has set up scaffolding. Photo by Long Gang
In recent years, Hongkou District has continuously increased the repair of historic buildings, completing the repair of 118,500 square meters of historic buildings last year, and planning to complete the repair of about 120,000 square meters of historic buildings this year. This time, the repair of Yong'anli is carried out in conjunction with the "beautiful home" project, and the historical information carried by the historical building will be preserved to the greatest extent during the repair, its historical appearance will be restored, the key protected parts will be protected, and the original spatial pattern will be maintained, so that the historical buildings will be further protected through repair.
Construction crews are repairing the building. Photo by Long Gang
There are 155 residential buildings in Yong'anli, North Sichuan Road, No. 39-155 was built in 1925, No. 1-38 was built in 1945, with a construction area of about 21,000 square meters, brick and wood structure three-storey houses, single-bay continuous shikumen, with classical British and Spanish architectural styles.
It is understood that Yong'an Li was built by Guo Shi, the owner of Yong'an Company at that time, for the middle and senior employees of his company. Guo was a Guangdong native, most of the staff used were Cantonese, Hongkou was the main gathering place for Cantonese people in Shanghai at that time, so Guo chose this place as a staff dormitory, and named it Yong'anli.
Yong'an Li is also a red lane. Lane 44 was a secret location for Zhou Enlai's early revolutionary activities in Shanghai (Zhou Enlai's aunt's house). Between 1927 and 1931, Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao and others often came here and lived here. In 1931, Gu Shunzhang, who was in charge of intelligence protection in the party at the time, was arrested and defected, and the party's central organs were seriously damaged. Zhou Enlai and Deng Yingchao came to knock on the door late at night dressed as merchants, and finally transferred from here to the Soviet area.
Repair plan of Yong'anli
Yong'anli repair plan
No. 135 of the Lane is the former site of the Liaison Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. According to the 2013 "Historical Sites of the Early Communist Party of China in Shanghai", jointly edited by the Party History Research Office of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics, in 1928, Huang Jiuran, who was working in the editorial office of the central organ of the Communist Party of China, "Bolsevik", was commissioned to establish an organ for the central committee to hold meetings and liaison here. The central leading comrades read and handled documents here, and Zhou Enlai, Luo Dengxian, Li Weihan, and others all came here to hold meetings to discuss work.
No. 143 Yong'an Li is the birthplace of "Oriental Dance Goddess" artist Chen Ailian.
After years of use, the indoor and outdoor walls, roofs, doors and windows, interior stairs, decorative lines and feet of Yong'anli buildings have suffered different degrees of damage. Some building façade paints are peeled off by the tidal air drum, local stains are covered, and moss breeds; the original cement mortar surface layer of the flat-level wall is partially damaged, and the surface is cracked with sand; the original sundeck waterproof layer is aging, resulting in water leakage from the sundeck.
Under the premise of eliminating the hidden dangers of building safety, this renovation refers to historical data, combs the internal space, demolishes illegal construction, and focuses on improving public parts and kitchen and bathroom spaces to adapt to the needs of modern living space. Update pipelines and facilities to improve residents' comfort while protecting the appearance of historic buildings. At the same time, some roofs, walls, doors, windows and interiors were repaired.
According to the relevant person in charge, when repairing, try to retain the original materials, structure and technology. In terms of architectural image, scale, proportion, material color, texture, characteristics, construction technology, and detailed technical treatment, try to maintain and restore the original architectural style. In accordance with the principle of "rational use, utilization obeys protection", the repair will organically combine the preservation of historical architectural features with the new requirements of adapting to modern life, so as to achieve effective protection, rational use and scientific management.