Scan the two-dimensional code to see Chen Qiang reveal why the Canton Tower still has a "nickname".
Chen Qiang
At the beginning of this century, it was still overgrown Huacheng Square and Canton Tower, and after just over ten years of development, it has become a veritable new central axis of Guangzhou. Photo by Mo Weinong, all-media reporter of Guangzhou Daily
Since the reform and opening up, Guangzhou's urban center of gravity has continued to shift eastward. From the former "not to the South Building, not to Guangzhou", to the later Beijing Road Pedestrian Street, the 63rd floor of Huanshi East, and then to the current Zhujiang New Town and Canton Tower. The change of Guangzhou's urban axis has brought great changes to the development of the city. Today, the 12-kilometer-long new urban axis that runs through Guangzhou's Tianhe Road business district and Zhujiang New Town has become a new business card of Guangzhou. This is not only a "regional sample" of Guangzhou's great achievements in reform and opening up, but also highlights Guangzhou's ambition to build a national central city and a global city.
Among them, Chen Qiang, who was born in 1977 and is almost the same age as the reform and opening up, is particularly deeply touched. For more than a decade, Chen Qiang has participated in all aspects of the construction of Guangzhou's new central axis, and the reform and opening up has synchronized his growth with the city's development pulse, while Guangzhou has provided the broadest platform for his ambitions.
Witness the new axis from point to line
"More beautiful than the drawings"
Entering December, Chen Qiang has been very busy, and recently held a literary and art party celebrating the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up in Guangdong Province at the Haixinsha Asian Games Park. As the operation manager of Guangzhou Tower and Haixinsha, Chen Qiang hardly stopped for a moment, and the interview with reporters had to be postponed again and again. In fact, he not only ensured a high-quality performance venue for this reform and opening up literary and artistic evening, but also used his own struggle to write the "Chinese Dream" in the process of reform and opening up.
Chen Qiang was born in a rural area in western Guangdong. In his view, reform and opening up have brought great changes to his life. "As a child who came out of the countryside, it is the reform and opening up that gives me the opportunity to see the wider world." In the 1990s, China ushered in a period of rapid development in infrastructure construction, attracting mathematicians to join the construction industry. "In those days, people felt that the most promising and hottest industries were construction and communications, and I was a part of the inspiration of the times. The development of the country gives those of us who are in this industry the opportunity to show their ambitions. In 1999, he graduated from Nanjing Institute of Architecture and Engineering, witnessed the rapid development of Guangdong, and with strong feelings for his hometown, Chen Qiang decided to come to Guangzhou and enter the Guangzhou Construction Group.
By 2002, engineering project management was still a relatively new term for the construction industry. "To complete a project, the approval process required is very complex." Therefore, Chen Qiang began to explore on his own, sorted out the approval process required for project management, and drew a clear "road map" for the construction project, so as to better carry out phased and professional management services for the whole process of project construction. "Now it seems that these approval flow charts are very simple, but at the time, our attempts were ahead of our Guangzhou counterparts." It is this "road map" that allows him to gradually enter the construction of Guangzhou's new central axis.
In Chen Qiang's view, the central axis of the city has always been an important planning concept for Chinese cities. In Guangzhou, the traditional central axis is composed of landmark buildings such as the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and the Zhenhai Tower, witnessing its more than 2,200 years of city-building history. After the reform and opening up, the city center gradually moved eastward, and the southeast area received planned large-scale development.
"The concept of Guangzhou's new central axis first originated with the completion of the Tianhe Sports Center in 1987; in the late 1990s, the area around Zhujiang New Town was re-planned to build a business district with a central axis; by 2001, the entire precinct, including Zhujiang New Town, was stable."
Chen Qiang still remembers that he first stepped on the new central axis of the city around 2004, when the area where Huacheng Square was located was still overgrown, the area around The Canton Tower was even more remote, the underground space was full of rainwater, and most of the surrounding roads were two lanes, which was easy to get stuck. "At the time, no one could have imagined what the area would eventually become." And now it seems that Chen Qiang sincerely sighed: "It is much more beautiful than the drawings, beyond our imagination." ”
"Little Brute Waist" is a poetic coincidence
The designer compares Guangzhou to a young girl
At the beginning of 2004, the construction project of the new TV tower in Guangzhou was officially launched. Chen Qiang's company was entrusted to become the general consultant team to provide the overall planning plan of the project, and Chen Qiang, as the technical backbone, naturally became one of the team members. Based on years of experience, Chen Qiang has tailored a clear "road map" for Guangzhou Tower from design bidding to project construction.
Chen Qiang recalled that after the new TV tower construction project entered the design competition stage, it began to solicit design proposals from all over the world, in addition to the "small barbarian waist" with a slender waist oval tower body that won the bid today, the other two plans are a golden square tower and a rotating flying chair.
"At that time, there were too many selections for these works, so why did you abandon the other two plans?" To this day, Chen Qiang talks about the bits and pieces of that time, and his eyebrows are still flying. He told reporters that in fact, the other two schemes are also very characteristic, the height of the "golden square tower" reaches 1000 meters, which is 400 meters higher than the current Canton Tower, the main body of the building is shaped like a golden flat square giant tower, the work is simple and rigorous, and the internal use rate is high; and the "rotating flying chair" work is set up in the tower body with a high-altitude rotating flying chair device, which increases the entertainment function. "In the end, we chose the current solution based on innovation, economy, practicality, realizability and cultural concepts."
In fact, before the official completion of the Canton Tower, the official name has always been called the Guangzhou TV Sightseeing Tower, and when it is about to be built and the form first appears, the citizens have already given it a "milk name". "In fact, we don't know when the name 'Little Wild Waist' began to spread." Chen Qiang frankly said that the "small barbarian waist" actually coincided with the designer's design concept, "At that time, the Dutch designer who designed the Canton Tower was to compare Guangzhou to a young girl, and the Canton Tower seemed to be a girl's look back and smile." In his opinion, this name is also very Chinese classical beauty. "Bai Juyi has a poem cloud 'cherry Fan Sukou, willow small barbarian waist', which shows that the person who takes the name of 'small barbarian waist' is also a person of elegance." Chen Qiang said.
In September 2009, entrusted by Guangzhou City Investment Group, Guangzhou Daily planned and hosted the global name campaign of "Please decide on the name of Guangzhou's new landmark", and finally selected the name "Canton Tower" from 180,000 valid names. "The name 'Canton Tower' appears objective and atmospheric, and is more appropriate on some solemn occasions, accepted by most people, so it is a big name; and 'Little Wild Waist' has gradually become a small name for Canton Tower because it is widely loved by the citizens."
How should Flower City Square be built
To be a green streamer on the banks of the Pearl River
After completing the preparation of the project management plan of Guangzhou Tower, Chen Qiang took over the land comprehensive bidding project of "East Tower" and "West Tower" to "find a mother-in-law" for these two landmark buildings. Now it seems that it was wise to choose to invest in Zhujiang New Town, but Chen Qiang admitted that "it was a relatively difficult moment." At that time, affected by the aftermath of SARS, the "West Tower" investment was once faced with a situation of insufficient market confidence.
In Chen Qiang's view, the construction of urban landmarks is closely linked to the regional economic development, which makes Chen Qiang dare not slacken off at all. How to "convince" developers to be optimistic about the development of Guangzhou's new central axis and be willing to invest in the "West Tower" and "East Tower"? Chen Qiang took the initiative to promote developers throughout the country, especially in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. "It is important to show them Guangzhou's confidence, at that time, Zhujiang New Town has begun to implement infrastructure work, and many projects have basically landed, just waiting to start construction." This let developers know that Guangzhou is not "empty talk", but the government departments take the lead in reviving the economy, thus dispelling their doubts about Guangzhou's economic development and enhancing the overall commercial value of Zhujiang New Town. In the end, the "West Tower" and the "East Tower" "carried" the impact of the "SARS" aftermath and the financial turmoil respectively, and successfully found the "in-laws".
In addition to attracting investment, the planning and construction of buildings will also affect the "popularity" of this area in the future. Chen Qiang said that Guangzhou's central axis is not blindly pursuing efficiency and building dense high-rise buildings, but will build a new central axis centered on Huacheng Square into a green streamer that flies on the banks of the Pearl River. In September 2005, Chen Qiang took over the bidding for the design of Huacheng Square. "At that time, large-scale underground space development was still very rare in China, but we chose to open up underground space with a future-oriented and innovative concept." They also "opened" the doors of office buildings and malls in their precincts, making the underground level of the building part of the public space. In the overall construction of the underground space, Huacheng Square has also set aside 4 to 5 groups of sunken squares to connect the green space on the ground with the underground space. "Natural light can penetrate the ground, making people more comfortable in the middle of it."
"When I first started working, the most I thought about was to use what I had learned, exercise and improve my ability." Chen Qiang frankly said that at that time, he did not expect that he would devote himself to the construction work related to the lifeblood of the entire urban development of Guangzhou in the future. However, now, he can proudly introduce that the construction technology level of the new central axis he participated in has reached the world-class level, the key technology of the Guangzhou Tower Project has won the "Second Prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award", and the underground space of Huacheng Square is also the largest one-time development of underground space project in the country.
He Jingtang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, spoke highly of this reporter in an interview with this reporter: "This central axis is a rare long central axis in the world, which not only reflects the history of Guangzhou, but also shows the image of Guangzhou's thriving city since the reform and opening up." ”
Text/Guangzhou Daily all-media reporters Shen Hui and Ye Bijun
Photo : Guangzhou Daily all-media reporter Luo Changwei
Video/ Guangzhou Daily all-media reporters Wei Jianfeng and Luo Changwei
Strivers
A native of Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, he graduated from Nanjing Institute of Civil Engineering and Architecture (now Nanjing University of Technology) majoring in electrical technology. Deputy General Manager of Guangzhou Urban Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd., General Secretary of the Party Branch and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Guangzhou Tower Tourism culture development Co., Ltd. Responsible for the preliminary planning, design bidding, construction and construction, investment attraction, operation management and other work of new central axis projects such as Huacheng Square, Haixinsha and Guangzhou Tower.
In 2004, he began to participate in the construction of the new central axis in Guangzhou.
In January 2008, it joined Guangzhou Urban Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd.
Since January 2014, he has served as the chairman of the board of directors and the general secretary of the party branch of Guangzhou Tower Tourism culture development Co., Ltd.
Since September 2017, he has served as the deputy general manager of Guangzhou Urban Construction Investment Group Co., Ltd.
"National development allows us to show our ambitions"
"In those days, people felt that the most promising and hottest industries were construction and communications, and I was a part of the inspiration of the times. The development of the country gives those of us who are in this industry the opportunity to show their ambitions. ”
"At that time, the concept of underground space, especially large-scale underground space development, was still very rare in China, but we still chose to open up underground space with an innovative concept for the future."
——Chen Qiang
Struggle for the background
Gather clouds and pearls
Create a livable flower city
Building a city is not a day's work, and a city with a deep historical heritage is a natural choice for human beings. Different natural conditions will grow a unique human environment, the two in the long river of history together to support the temperament of a city. It is the unique natural environment along the Pearl River that gives Guangzhou, a thousand-year-old commercial capital, an endless stream of life and power. As the forefront of reform and opening up, guangzhou in the past 40 years of construction, the old city has been strong for a long time, the commercial center of the new district has also sprung up, and the new urban axis has built the backbone of Guangzhou.
According to reports, in the 1980s, the scale of Tianhe District gradually became apparent, and a number of new residential communities were built around the Tianhe Sports Center, the venue of the Six Games, but the Zhujiang New Town near the side of the Pearl River on the new central axis of the city is still a suburb. In 1987, Guangzhou began to plan the urban urban system, and some experts and scholars proposed that the planning should focus on natural resources, existing foundations and new opportunities, and proposed to establish a town system that combines central cities, satellite cities and small towns, and developed in groups along the Pearl River to the east and south.
In 1997, the planning of the Zhujiang New Town area was restarted, and the new plan set the commercial district based on a central axis. However, the real "take-off" of Zhujiang New City was after China's accession to the WTO in 2001. Large buildings such as the well-known West Tower and R&F Center have been officially proposed since then.
Today, the new central axis of Guangzhou City is dominated by the Canton Tower in the north and south of the Pearl River, and Huacheng Square has the Guangzhou Grand Theatre, the Provincial Museum, the Municipal Library, and the Second Children's Palace of the City; the Lingnan Square on the south side of the Canton Tower to be built will have the New Guangzhou Museum, the Guangzhou Art Museum, the Guangzhou Science Museum, etc., forming the trend of the stars holding the moon.
In February this year, the "Guangzhou Urban Master Plan (2017-2035) (Draft)" was released, and the goal vision put forward was to be a beautiful and livable flower city, a vibrant global city, and a city that could see the mountains, see the water, and see the clouds and the mountains. Among them, the new central axis of the city is located in the urban style area of the central region where tradition and modernity blend.
memorabilia:
In 1987, the Tianhe Sports Center was completed, and Guangzhou began to plan the urban system.
1997 – Planning for the Pearl River New Town area begins again, with a central axis as the benchmark for setting up a commercial district.
2001 – The planning of the entire precinct, including Zhujiang New Town, tends to be stable. After that, the Flower City Square was optimized on the new central axis.
In February 2018, the "Guangzhou Urban Master Plan (2017-2035) (Draft)" was released, proposing to build a city where mountains can be seen, water can be seen, and clouds and mountains are facing each other.