The 2021 Shanghai "National Science Popularization Day" kicked off yesterday. Among the thousands of popular science activities, the exploration tour of the legendary architect Hudak should be one of the classic programs that should not be missed, and the citizens will follow the architectural experts to read the five classic buildings of Hudak, namely the White Mansion, the Green House, the Xiyan Hall, the Guangdong Society Building, and the Wukang Building.
Yesterday, "Reading Shanghai Reading Hudak" - the past life of "Green House" was opened at the small and exquisite Hudak Memorial Hall. Xi Wenqin, director of the Second Planning Institute of the Shanghai Academy of Urban Planning and Design, who has worked in the "Green House" for more than 30 years, unveiled the history and rebirth of this legendary building for nearly 100 citizens.
"Green House" has "three big hao"
Located on Tongren Road in Jing'an District, Green House is named for its buildings and walls made of green tiles. Writer Cheng Naishan once commented on the "green house": the appearance is like a cruise ship, looking across the road, like a touch of fireworks in the emerald green city of Su Causeway willow shade, in a cluster of blurred and uniform urban buildings, lining out a bit of narcissistic loneliness.
When it comes to buildings designed by Hudak, most of the first things that Shanghainese think of are Wukang Buildings, but Xi Wenqin said that on foreign-published Hudak books, postcards or stamps, the covers are mostly printed with "Green House", and this house is also the last work Hudak completed in Shanghai. In 1935, a young businessman, Wu Tongwen, approached the legendary shanghai beach architect Hu Dake to build a four-storey house. Three years later, the "Green House" was completed.
According to Xi Wenqin, the "Green House" has created "three big ones": this is the first garden house with elevators, the first spring floor, the first air conditioning and air conditioning, in addition, the uniqueness and originality of the overall design make this building enduring, no matter when you look at it, it is pleasing to the eye.
Every inch of space is carefully polished
"Hudak is like a skillful tailor who can make suits out of uneven fabrics, adapting to local conditions and repeatedly deliberating, making the green house a unique building that can only grow here, like an urban living machine anchored on the base, with precise and appropriate function and form, becoming a model of a detached garden house that complements the urban space." Xi Wenqin described the "green house" this way.
In the effective use of space, Hudak almost hollowed out his mind, and every space arrangement is interlocked like a machine gear. For example, the "green house" has four-story balconies, one or two-story balconies, and three- and four-story balconies, which is a design that allows guests entering the public space not to inadvertently step into the three- and four-story private residential area; and the towering sun room on the south façade forms a tall glass tower, and accordingly combs the shape of the platform, straightens the original curves, forming a strong horizontal and vertical line contrast, and the shape has both virtual and real contrasts and reflects the staggered.
The large terraces that recede and look at each other from the surrounding buildings and urban spaces have always been engraved in the memories of the city's public.
The green bricks are restored as best as possible using the collage method
Today's "Green House" has become the office of the Shanghai Urban Planning and Design Institute, and most of Shanghai's urban planning is drawn from the planners who work in this excellent historic building.
The Green House is named after the green glazed bricks that were specially fired by the "Taishan Brick Factory" at the request of Wu Tongwen. After 80 years of wind and rain, the green brick walls have been mottled, and their restoration and cleaning is the focus of the façade protection and repair.
According to Xi Wenqin, when cleaning the outer wall, most of the surface tiles with less damage were retained, the glazed tiles in the hidden parts were removed, replaced to the main façade that needed to be repaired, and the details of the surface brick line feet were repaired. In view of the color difference problem caused by uneven weathering of the surface tiles, four glazed tiles of approximate colors are customized to repair and adjust the color difference. "The restored façade looks quite integrated, can you see that there is a color difference?" she asked.
The new interior design adopts a simple modern style approach, and does not completely copy the original featured detailed decorative patterns. The new part of the interior adopts a reversible structural method, such as adjusting the function for future use, and demolishing it without affecting the protective part.
On the World Heritage Day in 2014, the "Green House" was opened to Shanghai citizens for the first time after the renovation, and more than 1,000 people were admitted in the first two hours, and now the "Green House" is still an excellent carrier for reading Shanghai architecture, full of new vitality.
Author: Shen Xiangsha
Photo: Courtesy of Xi Wenqin