Wuchang Tanhualin Historical and Cultural Block, the restored Swedish diocese site complex is in a mountainous position and has a flexible pattern.
The 1.2-kilometer-long Wuchang Tanhualin Historical and Cultural Block is a "living" modern history book of Wuhan, which gathers diverse cultures such as nature, ancient city, religion, architecture, education, and health. Here, the historical building that integrates Chinese tradition and Western classics witnesses the collision and fusion of Chinese and Western cultures.
Recently, the second phase of the transformation of the core area of Tan Hualin has entered the end, and the Tan Hualin block with a history of more than 600 years has been revitalized. A total of 9 excellent historical buildings such as the former site of the Swedish diocese, the Xuyuanquan Mansion and the Xia Douyin Mansion have been basically restored, and the shortest of these historical buildings is more than 90 years old, and the longest is more than 130 years. Wuchang District organized experts, designers and technicians to overcome many difficulties, repair the old as old, restore the historical architectural style to the greatest extent, continue the urban context, and make the century-old houses come to life.
The only remaining Nordic architectural complex in Wuhan is in Tan Hualin
On April 22, this reporter came to Tan Hualin for a field visit. At the foot of Phoenix Mountain, pass through a Chinese-style gate archway, and a group of Nordic-style buildings unfolds one after another. The 5 buildings are built on the mountain, with a flexible layout and an elegant environment, which is the former site of the Swedish diocese.
Halfway up the hill along the cobblestone road is the old bishop's building in the Diocese of Sweden. It is a three-storey pointed brick and wood house with a height of 16.7 meters and a steep roof of 6.7 meters. Arch gates, Aquarius columns, cloister columns, imitation stone walls, Mensa roofs... Climb up the zigzag-shaped white jade steps in front of the door, and the typical Nordic style will come to you.
Inside, the antique wooden floors and narrow carousel staircases have a special charm. In the room, the fireplace in the corner of the wall has been renovated, the stove frame is carved and decorated in exquisite detail, and the log ceiling is equipped with chic lamps, which sets off a strong classical style. According to reports, the former site of the Swedish diocese was built in 1890 and is the only remaining Nordic style architectural community in Wuhan.
To the east along the mountain path, two bungalows with parallel layouts stand, the Xia Douyin Mansion, built in 1932.
The restored Xia Douyin Mansion.
Located at the foot of the mountain, Xu Yuanquan Mansion is a typical combination of Chinese and Western architecture, built around 1930. "The house is a French-style building from the front, a Chinese building from the back, and a spire roof that is also Chinese." Qiu Wei, general manager and chief engineer of Wuhan Tianshi Construction Engineering Co., Ltd., introduced.
The second phase of the excellent historical building protection and repair project in the core area of Tan Hualin Historical and Cultural Block was launched in March 2019. Wang Jiaman, deputy general manager of Wuhan Wuchang Cultural Innovation and Development Co., Ltd., introduced that at present, the protection and repair of historical buildings is basically completed, and the interior decoration and decoration construction of houses is underway, and this batch of old houses is about to be unveiled and open to the public.
Demolition of illegal buildings, careful repairs are like "archaeology"
Houses have fallen into disrepair, roofs have collapsed, and some have even become dangerous houses; some buildings have been used as residential buildings for a long time, the structure of the houses has changed greatly, and the illegal construction is serious; the building has no design drawings to survive, and there is a lack of historical data... Over the past two years, in the process of protecting and repairing these outstanding historical buildings, relevant experts and design and construction personnel have overcome one problem after another.
Before the houses were vacated, 72 families were housed in 5 buildings on the site of the old Diocese of Sweden. "The illegal construction inside and outside the house is very serious, and the damage to the house is great." Wang Jiaman said that this has brought great difficulties to the repair and construction. Demolition and illegal construction, stripping away from the original house, identifying authenticity, analyzing the spatial pattern, restoring the wall, door and window structure, step by step, just like "archaeology".
"There used to be a wall here, and after many surveys and comparisons, we determined that it was a partition wall built by the residents later, so we carefully removed it." Standing in the cloister on the second floor of the Bishop's Building, Cheng Yiduo, chief architect of the Zhongnan Architectural Design Institute, introduced to reporters that although the age of the house has reached more than 130 years, the contour structure of the house has not changed fundamentally, until the illegal construction is demolished one by one, the Aquarius pillar is seen again, and the original historical style and architectural texture of the house are revealed.
The large white jade steps in front of the door were seriously damaged, and some of the steps collapsed and deformed. "The construction personnel did not dig up all the steps and rebuild them, but dug out some of the collapsed steps first, stacked them according to the original terrain number, and then repaired the foundation and then restored to the original construction site." Wang Jiaman said that in the process of restoration, for the defective parts of the building, there is no major demolition and large-scale construction, and the overall replacement is mainly adopted by means of local repair and digging, and the original appearance is maintained as much as possible.
In the early stage of construction, the bishop's building was dilapidated, the roof collapsed partially, some of the wooden structures in the room were eroded by termites, and the wooden floors were also decayed, so the protection and repair was very urgent. "Keep what you can keep as much as possible, and make the best use of it." Qiu Wei said that the construction personnel mainly take the damaged wood, wooden floor, wooden stairs and other local repair and replacement, and the wood for fire prevention, corrosion prevention, insect treatment.
Repair the old as old, and find ways to reproduce the original appearance of the building
The original form, raw materials, original craftsmanship, original layout and original color, repairing the old as old, ensuring safety, retaining integrity and authenticity, has become the principle of protection and repair of historical buildings throughout.
The roof of Xu Yuanquan Mansion is a concrete leaking flower fence. "We found that something was wrong, and we found a building data map from many sources in the archives, and found that the original roof fence was brick and tiled brick masonry." Jovia said that the construction eventually adopted a plan to repair the physical fence, maximizing the restoration of the building's original appearance. As small as a wind hook on the window of the house, in order to keep it as it is, it needs to be customized from a manufacturer in Shanghai.
The restored Xuyuanquan Mansion.
In order to repair a Chinese-style building with collapsed roof and crooked walls, the design and construction personnel specifically consulted the architect Liang Sicheng's book "Qing-style Construction Rules", from which to find a basis, retained the roof stone, beam, beam, truss, rafter and other structures of the house, and used modern grouting technology to strengthen and treat the damaged wall, successfully restoring the Chinese architectural style of the roof small green tiles and green brick clear water walls.
It is necessary to protect and repair, but also to stimulate the function of "living" old houses
Protection is for better use. The renovation project should not only restore the historical style of the building, but also stimulate the use function of the old house.
One of the houses in Xia Douyin's mansion collapsed, the walls were broken by growing trees, and the house was almost destroyed. In order to restore the old appearance of the house, the Wuchang District Housing Management Bureau invited cultural security experts to conduct on-site investigation, held a technical coordination meeting, multi-party demonstration and evaluation, dismantled the damaged wall, rebuilt the main structure of the house at the original site, used 38,000 pieces of original gray bricks to re-build the wall, and retained the original eaves of the building and 2 Ionic columns.
The construction party adopted moderately innovative technology to reconstruct the original damaged roof, using a cable-type overhang beam wooden frame, and the roof was covered with hollow new glass and red tile roof, creating a visual effect of transparent space. After the restoration of this house, it will be used as an open-air tanhua small theater in the future.
After restoration, Xu Yuanquan Mansion retained the log window frame, and the window stained glass was replaced with double-layer hollow stained glass, which is not only beautiful, but also has the function of thermal insulation and anti-ultraviolet rays. In the house, fire protection, HVAC, air conditioning and other facilities are cleverly implanted, which greatly enhances the modern use function of the house.
To rescue and protect historical relics is to excavate and continue the urban context
In the ancient city of Wuchang, there are 26 outstanding historical buildings at the municipal level. Among them, the Tan Hualin Historical and Cultural Block accounts for 22 buildings. These historical and cultural relics can be preserved to this day, which is particularly precious.
"Tan Hualin is a rare cultural heritage left by history to the city." The person in charge of the Wuchang Ancient City Protection and Development Center said that the rescue, protection, development and utilization of tanhualin historical and cultural relics is not only responsible for the history of the city, but also for the future development, which is of great significance for excavating and continuing the urban context and accelerating the construction of urban history and culture.
From December 2018 to January 2019, the Wuchang District Government has invited experts from Wuhan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan University of Technology, CITIC Architectural Design and Research Institute, Municipal Planning Institute and other units to review the protection and repair design schemes of the former site of the Swedish Diocese of Sweden, Xuyuanquan Mansion and Xia Douyin Mansion for immovable cultural relics and excellent historical buildings.
The expert group suggested that it is necessary to highlight the principle of overall protection of the historical and cultural features of Tanhualin Block, fully reflect the overall environmental style of the original building complex built on the mountain; adhere to the principle of authenticity protection and repair of the old as old, retain the original structure, old components and materials to the greatest extent, try to use the original construction process and similar materials for construction, avoid "looking new" after repair, retain the historical and cultural information of the building, and reflect the recognizability.
"The restoration of historical buildings is an 'archaeological' process, which requires the delicate skill of embroidery and cannot see the traces of restoration, which is the effect we are pursuing." Zhou Qiming, director of the housing safety supervision station of the Wuchang District Housing Management Bureau, said that from the current repair effect, the restoration of these excellent historical buildings has basically met expectations. In his view, through the repair of historical buildings, our generation has provided ideas and references for future generations to review history, inherit the context, and look forward to the future.
(Text/Yangtze River Daily reporter Tan Delei correspondent Wu Di Mei Chen Shangguan Jing photo/Yangtze River Daily reporter Miao Jian)
【Editor: He Equation】