Revitalise historical relics and rejuvenate the city
The old airport has been transformed into a cultural and innovative landmark
-- The city's revitalization of the idle assets of the airport in the western suburbs has achieved remarkable results
The door of the Western Suburbs Memory Culture, Science and Technology Creative Industry Incubation Park featuring aircraft models is very eye-catching.
Walking into the Western Suburbs Memory Culture, Science and Technology Creative Industry Incubation Park, the door with the aircraft model as the characteristic element comes into view, rows of old red brick houses are neatly arranged, the flowers and trees are lush and scattered between the trails, and the old photos on the wall that belong to the memory of Hanzhong let many young people take photos and check in here.
The park is located in the airport road in the city center, covering an area of 3,500 square meters, which was built in the 80s of the last century, formerly known as the staff dormitory of Xijiao Airport. In 2014, due to the relocation of the airport, the asset was vacant for nearly 10 years and gradually lost its development vitality.
"I grew up in the west of the city, and the happiest thing is flying kites at the airport, which carries the childhood memories of the post-80s generation, and is also the base of the 'Flying Tigers' led by US Air Force General Chennault during the Anti-Japanese War, so I call it 'Western Suburbs Memory'."
The red brick houses inside the Western Suburbs Memory Culture, Science and Technology Creative Industry Incubation Park are surrounded by greenery.
The person who spoke was called Lieberthal, and he was also the person in charge of the park. In 2023, after many years of architectural design in Xiamen, he focused on this abandoned dormitory bungalow. "They are witnesses of the imprint of that era, full of a sense of history and vicissitudes, and we want to dig on them and do a good job."
Staff dormitory at the former Western Suburbs Airport in 2014.
"The older the one, the more charming it is, and the older the one, the more stories to tell." This is the philosophy that Lieberthal and his creative team adhere to. In 2022, after inspecting more than 100 cultural and creative parks and scenic spots in China, Lieberthal made a multi-angle analysis and detailed research on the overall planning, business formats, and cultural characteristics of dormitory bungalows, and finally positioned it as a trendy cultural and creative park rooted in Hanzhong's local culture and an ideal community for young people.
The distant airport in my memory is a place where I ran and had fun as a child. Nowadays, forgotten spaces are reawakened, and old memories are given a new cultural core.
In line with the design principle of "making the old as new, and making the new as old", Lieberthal and his team replanned and renovated the house, while retaining the imprint of the times, through repair, repair, construction and other professional and all-round reinforcement and transformation, to maximize the utilization of internal and external space. "At present, the park has created three major areas: cultural and technological creative small and micro enterprise incubation block, cultural product trading block and cultural and creative art leisure area, and the total investment promotion progress has been completed by 70%, and some businesses are being renovated. It is estimated that the project will introduce 70 enterprises to settle in the office and provide 500 jobs. Huang Bo, a partner of Lieberthal, introduced that combined with the current new consumption scenarios and new business formats, these old houses have been given a new "mission".
The renovated house "reappeared" and quickly attracted the attention of like-minded people, and Li Xin was one of them. As a young contemporary artist who has been drifting in Beijing for many years, Li Xin opened a contemporary original art studio called "Green Field", focusing on the creation and exhibition of works. "It's very clean and artistic, and you can calm down and create." Li Xin said.
The director of Braim Jingwei Planning and Design Company expressed the original intention of moving the company here. "It's depressing in the office building, but when you look up here, you can see green trees, red flowers, blue sky and white clouds, and working here has more design inspiration."
How to achieve long-term operational normalcy? It is the proper meaning to create a characteristic consumption scene. "Focusing on cultural industry + art business, the park takes the opportunity of implanting a new space system and modern architectural language into old factories, focuses on youth friendliness, and integrates cultural consumption formats such as creative design, fashion catering, art performances, music creation incubation, creative markets, and night economy, so as to attract more dynamic customer groups, create new landmarks for cultural and creative projects, and realize traffic realization." Lieky said.
At the same time, the company established in conjunction with the park has set up a product selection center, an operation center, a training center, a customer service center, a shared live broadcast room, etc., which can promote the gathering of innovative elements and innovative resources such as talents, projects, technologies, and capital in the e-commerce live broadcast format, drive the development of more high-quality projects, realize the "optimal stock and increase in introduction", and promote the development of the e-commerce live broadcast industry cluster in the park.
From the abandoned mottled dormitory bungalows to the popular check-in places where tourists are in an endless stream, from the idle vacant land that no one cares about to now become a platform for many businesses and enterprises to come to invest and start a business, so far, the roar and hustle and bustle have become a freeze frame, and the memory of the western suburbs is engraved with the imprint of the times, witnessing the crowds coming and going, exploring and creating a new way of transforming the area, and also recording the waves of the rise of the cultural and creative industry.
(Source: Hanzhong Daily, Hanzhong on the Road)