(Source Network)
Liao Huiwen
The future of the city depends on what we value now and what we choose.
The art of slowness
It's getting warmer and I'm going to find a place to swim. The cell phone navigation took me to a place called the "Thermos Swimming Pool". After passing through a residential area, we entered an old factory area and came into view of the swimming pool. I immediately realized that the name of the swimming pool that made me feel a little strange came from: this was once a thermos bottle factory.
The old factory building has been transformed into a swimming pool and billiard hall with a retro style of the 1980s and 1990s. In the seating area, a vertical painting of the wall decorated with two-person high thermos bottles. The thermos is painted with gorgeous peony flowers, evoking some some somewhat distant memories. The owner of the swimming pool proudly said to me: "Young people like it, and many people come to take pictures." ”
(Thermos bottle swimming pool author photo)
When I left, I saw a niche cigar house next to me. It doesn't look like it's been decorated with much fanfare, and the cement walls are cratered. Changing the window ledge, creating a closet, only dragging a few comfortable sofas, and then embellishing a few warm yellow lights and a few pots of green plants, is the popular "industrial style".
I immediately recommended this place to my friends on social networks. But at the same time, a question popped into my head: if I took 20 years back in time, would I think it would be "beautiful" or "dilapidated and old"?
Our aesthetic judgment standards are changing. In recent years, Changsha restaurant Super Wen Heyou has attracted people's attention with its decoration, and a red brick wall with the word "Changsha" written on it has attracted tourists to queue up to take photos and "punch in"... Their "aesthetic elements" are concentrated on the old neighborhoods and old houses in our memories. In the process of urban renewal and expansion, buildings with a long history or significant monumental significance have long been included in the list of historical buildings or immovable cultural relics. But as we have seen, architecture that is still "out of the ordinary" is not without aesthetic, architectural and economic significance.
Architecture, a slow art. Its value may need to be measured by longer hours and longer horizons.
Architectural history of "alive"
(Hunan Machine Tool Factory.) Photo by Tokino)
Such buildings have a name that is relatively unfamiliar to most people - potential historical buildings. In 2015, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development required provinces and cities to declare potential historic buildings. Entrusted by the Changsha Municipal Planning Bureau, Jiao Sheng, a professor at the School of Architecture and Planning of Hunan University, participated in the survey and statistics, and summarized a "Directory of Potential Historical Buildings in Changsha" containing more than 500 buildings. Its age is generally relatively recent, concentrated in the end of 1950-1980, most of which are government unit factories, dormitory buildings and communities where ordinary people live, such as Changsha Zinc Factory, Changsha Thermos Bottle Factory, Changsha Elevator Factory, etc.
Looking through the "List" and comparing the existing historical buildings, the historical, artistic and scientific value of potential historical buildings is slightly weaker than that of the current historical buildings. But just as historical buildings are created by time, this "short board" of potential historical buildings will also be filled with the passage of time, gradually becoming "historical buildings" and even "immovable cultural relics".
Behind this concept is the preservation of the heritage of mainland cities, from focusing only on revolutionary sites and palace temples, to protecting buildings of artistic or important figures, to the development of general historical buildings and memorial sites for special lower groups that protect the life and production of ordinary people. The deeper reason for this change is a change in values — an emphasis on popular history and urban culture. In recent years, the organic renewal of the old city that Changsha has embarked on is also different from the previous shed reform that was "demolished", and some old buildings, old residents, and old patterns have been retained.
In Jiao Sheng's view, cities and buildings have life and are "organically grown." Therefore, he suggested that the survey of potential historical buildings should be done every 5-10 years, and potential historical buildings that meet the conditions should be continuously added.
Luo Ming, an associate professor at the School of Architecture and Art at Central South University, calls potential historical buildings "a non-renewable and valuable resource that highlights the individuality of the city and continues the urban context" – from the perspective of architectural history, these potential historical buildings completely record the process from the main brick and wood and brick-concrete structures to the rise of concrete structures.
"The existence of potential historical buildings can make the architectural development of the city more continuous. When our children and grandchildren come to see our city in a few years, they will know what period it is and what period it is. It is fragmented, continuous, and a living architectural history. At the same time, the potential historic buildings provide an urban backdrop for our old town. Imagine if there were only modern buildings and already defined cultural relics and historical buildings in the middle of our city, in fact, most of its number is still modern architecture. ”
For historical buildings, the integrity of their scene space is quite important. "If we can protect some potential historical buildings, it can act as a 'supporting role' behind these cultural relics and historical buildings to create an atmosphere of urban background." And with the development of the times, it also has the opportunity to become a 'protagonist'. And, importantly, they evoke emotional connections. She said.
Reproduced "Nearby"
With the Catalogue in hand, we decided to embark on a journey to the aesthetics of potential historic buildings.
In addition to the aforementioned thermos bottle factory, we have also experienced their beauty in the Second Courtyard of the Provincial Government, Hunan University and other units, in historical neighborhoods such as Chaozong Street. Thanks to long-term maintenance and reasonable interior space transformation, these potential historic buildings not only maintain a complete historical style, but also meet the current living and office needs. When I meet people who study and work in it, they will always actively introduce them and have the appearance of honor. We looked across the iron gate at the Changsha Oil and Fat Factory in Tianxin District, and heard that it might also be preserved and built into a unique "tin can park", and introduced exhibition space, park green space and square, thus becoming the "growth point of the area".
One sunny afternoon, we walked into the Yangtianhu Community Zinc Factory dormitory in Changsha's Tianxin District. Local native tree species such as camphor trees, wax trees, trees, and neem trees cover more than a dozen red brick buildings with dazzling bright greenery, and the soft spring breeze sends sweet grapefruit flowers.
(Changsha Zinc Factory dormitory.) Photo by the author)
They are all two-storey Soviet-style buildings built in the early 1950s, with neat lines and harmonious proportions, which look solemn and exquisite. It's an aging neighborhood, surrounded by silence, with residents dragging chairs out of their homes and basking in the sun with cats mixed in the community; An old woman picked up her clothes with a bamboo pole and hung them on the intricately entangled wires pulled up between the buildings.
In this comfortable, slow-paced space where refinement and clutter coexist, I suddenly remembered what anthropologist Xiang Biao once said: "One of the trends in the development of modern society is to 'eliminate the neighborhood'." ”
In times that are too fast, we are becoming more precise, efficient, and purpose-oriented, but we lose the ability to describe the real life around us, and even the geographical and human significance of our community in this city. But here, I see the "neighborhood" that still exists — a low-density neighborhood where people can still connect and interact with their surroundings and the past.
(The building is tucked away in greenery.) Photo by the author)
I'm a little envious, but the "punch in the face" moment also comes quickly.
Seeing that we were taking pictures, a big sister surnamed Ma took the initiative to talk and led us to visit her home. She lives on the second floor, and due to its age, the wooden floor has the feeling of stepping on it one foot deep and one foot shallow. The ceiling is also of wood with obvious wreckage and water stains over the years. The room was clean and warm by her. But the space is cramped, she has to share the kitchen with a neighbor, and as for the toilet, go straight downstairs for 50 meters - the public toilet.
"There are comforts and there are discomforts. The neighborhood is good, I have lived here since I was a child, and I am also very emotional. But it is too old and inconvenient to live in, and the basic living conditions are not available. ”
With a "bang", Sister Ma's neighbor opened the door to join the discussion: "Gas, electricity, water... Washing machine can't be used! Can't use it, hand wash!" Residents can't find a person to be responsible for this, and they are very resistant to words such as "historic district" and "potential historical building", and their common desire is "demolition and resettlement, moving into a good house".
Beneath the building is the concrete life of the residents. Turning to the "List" again, such contradictions are not in the minority. With the change of times, the units belonging to many potential historical buildings have been bankrupt and restructured, not only unable to improve the housing environment for employees, but also the ownership of their property rights and other issues are very complicated, often in the protection, demolition, resettlement between the long-term deadlock. What is even more worrying is that in the process of searching, many buildings have disappeared or been replaced by new contemporary buildings.
The power of "seeing"
This is a common problem across the country. This large group of potential historical buildings has not yet had a clear "identity" like historical buildings and immovable cultural relics, so their protection and utilization vary from place to place. The cultural consciousness of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai is at the forefront of the country, and Chongqing, Quanzhou and other places also attach great importance to it, and thus form a virtuous circle. A staff member of the planning department suggested that the responsibilities and obligations of the authorities in charge of potential historical buildings should be clarified, because "those who protect history and culture are often in a weak position".
(Nineteen factory old building complex.) Photo by Tokino)
Li Bo, director of the Historical and Cultural City Protection and Management Division of the Changsha Municipal Bureau of Urban Human Settlements and Environment, said that Changsha has an early understanding of potential historical buildings, and will also invite relevant experts to discuss during urban renewal. However, he believes that the government's protection funds are limited, but it depends on being "seen" by the public in order to encourage it to be used by some market players and institutions.
Jiao Sheng also repeatedly stressed to us the power of "seeing". He believes that the public's current knowledge of potential historical buildings is still very insufficient. "The Directory should be open to the public for a long time, and hold some publicity activities, invite the public to jointly find and declare potential historical buildings, so as to popularize the concept of potential historical buildings and trigger more imaginations about utilization."
Comparing heritage buildings with historic buildings, there are relatively few restrictions on the transformation of potential historical buildings. In his vision, some blocks connected into pieces can be more systematic characteristic landscape creation, introduce market players, and develop into new urban cultural tourism landmarks. For some potential historical buildings scattered in urban communities, they can also be maintained and transformed to bring them back to community life.
"When we need to build a community office, a health room, a public service space for elderly or children's activities, an indoor stadium, etc., when an institution such as a library is going to open a 24-hour library in the community, we prioritize the use of potential historical buildings..."
At a moment when dusk was about to end, I walked alone through the old neighborhood near the Xiangjiang River, smelled some fragrant and some choking food, and looked far between the tall buildings, the skyline that was about to be engulfed by twilight. I thought, I'm standing in the crevices of the city.
When countless modular urban functional blocks and standardized buildings are erected, we realize that the culture that grows in this gap, the actual living space and situation of residents, is the unique soul of the city.
(Interns Wang Xujun and Sun Wen contributed to this article; Thank you to Mr. Cai Heyun and Mr. Chen Xianshu for their strong support for this article. )