At the end of February, 2000, Wuxi Cultural Management Committee entrusted us with the preliminary planning and conceptual design of the protection scheme of "Yuan Wen Plaza" project. This is an exploratory and challenging project, which provides an ideal experimental object for our work of protecting and utilizing urban heritage.
The proposed "Yuan Wen Square" is located in the center of Wuxi, in a residential area in the form of traditional houses to be demolished. Several existing cultural relics buildings, mainly the former residence of Qin Bangxian, a municipal cultural relics protection unit, need to be protected in situ. At the same time, the Wuxi Municipal Cultural Management Committee also decided to relocate three municipal-level cultural relics, namely Jingfulou, Peony Bookstore and Old Square Bookstore, which could not be preserved in situ due to the renovation of lots nearby, as well as Jimen, Mingluntang, Gong Xue and Qin Shikong Hall of the Confucian Temple to the "Yuan Wen Square" site. These are old houses with low protection level, but they have Wuxi local characteristics, so they are typical Wuxi local buildings. Due to the lack of protection funds, and the location of the lot is located in the city center, and the location conditions are good, the competent authorities think it is necessary to carry out protective development of the lot in order to develop "feeding" protection and maintain normal operation in the future. Therefore, although the "Yuan Wen Square" is not large, there are three types of buildings in this area: old buildings protected in situ and ex situ, and some new buildings for commercial development. After the integrated layout, these buildings will become one of the most popular leisure and sightseeing places with local characteristics in Wuxi.
It can be predicted that such a complex protection and utilization project will inevitably lead to a series of contradictions and conflicts.
The first pair of contradictions to be faced is the inevitable conflict of interests between architectural protection and commercial development. The principle of protection requires that the historical and artistic value of buildings be maintained to the letter, but the market follows the principle of interest-driven, and will never damage the principle of protection at the expense of commercial profits, or even infringe on the protected objects for economic benefits. Such examples abound. Therefore, how to solve the contradiction between protection and development and realize effective protection under moderate development has become a very difficult problem, and its essence is how to deal with the economic compensation caused by protection. For the efforts of developers in protection, the general compensation method is to give a certain development area on the edge or periphery of the protected lot, and give preferential treatment on municipal facilities, floor area ratio and other indicators. However, such development is sensitive and dangerous, and should be based on the principle of not endangering protection, that is to say, protection is fundamental, compensatory development is a means, and the cart before the horse cannot be put. Therefore, such projects must choose "Confucian businessmen" with strength, vision and taste to participate, and they should not fall into the hands of businessmen who lack judgment on the comprehensive value of protected objects and lots and only do pure real estate calculation.
Secondly, there are different understandings of the relationship between protection and utilization. Especially for cultural relics buildings with low protection level, it is also a dilemma to follow the rules of passive protection and accept only a few people to visit or leave vacant, or to take active protection to make proper and reasonable use of their internal space. General protection rules include: all components from individuals to groups should be completely protected, and the original characteristics, connotations and environmental atmosphere of historical buildings should be protected. This requires minimizing the impact of exhibition and protection measures on the original environment and avoiding changing the use function of the protected building and its surroundings. However, for a large number of terroir buildings with ever-changing and complicated reality, if these rules are strictly implemented in protection and utilization, it is often difficult or even impossible to operate. As a result, those less noticeable protected objects are left out in the cold and desolate, and even eventually destroyed; If too much emphasis is placed on promoting protection through development, it is easy to fall into the market trap of destructive utilization. We believe that it is impossible to adopt "one size fits all" standards and rules for the protection of vernacular architecture, but we need to analyze specific problems and do some complementary creative work under the general principle of protection. For example, "Yuan Wen Square", a local building with low protection level, aims to create urban space with historical memory. Therefore, it is not only reasonable but also feasible to moderately develop its internal secondary functions.
Finally, it is even more controversial whether to adopt the traditional architectural form to achieve harmony in similarity, or to give it a new architectural image, emphasize the contrast and conflict between the old and the new, and widen the time distance from the protected object. The experiment of "Yuan Wen Square" is our attempt to understand and answer.
Second, the base and related conditions
The proposed base of "Yuan Wen Plaza" is located in the north of Chongning Road in downtown Wuxi, between Yuan Wen Road and Xinsheng Road. It is planned to open a new north-south library road between the east and west areas, with a total land area of about1.4hm2. Most of the buildings in the base are very dilapidated residential buildings, which are traditional residential buildings, and there are also a large number of newly built and added residential buildings after liberation. The building quality is average and the preservation value is not great. After long-term development, there are few traces of traditional elements in the surrounding environment of the base, and most of the buildings are modern residential and commercial buildings. Among them, there are two 20-storey high-rise buildings at Chongning intersection of Zhongshan Road on the left, and a new 20-storey high-rise building behind the base of the First People's Hospital on the right. These modern buildings, especially high-rise buildings, have an inevitable impact on the protected buildings in the base.
The buildings in Yuan Wen Square can be divided into in-situ protection and ex-situ protection according to the protection methods. Among the in-situ conservation buildings, the former residence of Qin Bangxian, a famous historical figure, is an existing municipal cultural relic protection unit and a typical Wuxi residence. It used to be the home of Qin Zhuoru, a local celebrity. It was built in the late Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty and has more than 20 rooms. When Qin Bangxian was a child, because his family was poor, he rented a third one to live in for six years and spent his childhood. Many families are using it now. Due to the disrepair and serious aging of the internal structure and pipelines, and the self-improvement of each family, the original appearance of the former residence is incomplete. The Qinhuai River Temple on the east side was built in the Ming Dynasty to commemorate Qin Shaoyou, a graceful poet in the Song Dynasty and one of the "Four Bachelor of Sumen". The existing building also has a gatehouse, followed by two small houses, which are of average quality and are also municipal-level cultural relics buildings. The existing Qin Chengzhi Hall in the east is an ordinary residential building with good preservation conditions, which belongs to the cultural relics control building. There are two residential buildings in the east to be preserved.
Among the relocated buildings, Jingfulou, Peony Bookstore and Old Square Bookstore were originally part of Qin, and the rest were destroyed. Zhang Qingtang was founded in the 4th year of Yongzheng in Qing Dynasty (1726), and later belonged to Qin Dingyun, a descendant of Qin family. The fifth and sixth entrances of Zhang Qingtang, now called "Jingfu Building", were originally located in the west courtyard of the first two entrances. Jingfulou turntable building is a unique architectural form in Jiangnan area, and it is the earliest existing turntable building in Wuxi, with high value. Jimen of Confucius Temple, Mingluntang and Gong Xue are the earliest school buildings in Wuxi County. They are the only official schools in ancient Wuxi, located in Xianxue Qianjie, founded in the Northern Song Dynasty. The existing buildings were rebuilt during the Tongzhi period of the Qing Dynasty, and the preservation condition is still good. However, the present situation of the surrounding environment is not optimistic. They are all occupied by modern buildings, which is much worse than the conditions in the "Yuan Wen Square" lot. In fact, it is impossible to keep them in place. It is in this situation that we decided to move it to the "Yuan Wen Square" area for ex-situ conservation. Qin's contrast hall, a part of the original Qin Baoyitang residence, was built in an unknown age. Although it is a part of the mansion, the hall and the wing are equipped with garden sketches, which embodies the characteristics of folk houses in Jiangnan water town in Ming and Qing Dynasties. These vernacular buildings will now "take refuge" in Yuan Wen Square base.
Third, protective conceptual design.
1. Protective utilization Rational utilization of the protected object is a wise protection strategy, which has long been recognized in the field of cultural relics protection. Making good use of cultural relics is not only beneficial to their daily maintenance, but also beneficial to their social benefits. The same idea should be more suitable for a much larger number of residential buildings that are not included in the scope of cultural relics protection. Therefore, the reuse of vernacular architecture is not only beneficial to its own protection, but also can be used as a compensation for developers. According to the traditional solution, if we only regard it as a "specimen" of an antique, it will be wishful thinking and obviously unattractive, especially for such an object protected in Yuan Wen Square. There is no doubt that the use of vernacular architecture for protection is an inevitable result.
Through the analysis of the present situation of "Yuan Wen Square", the feasibility of developing the secondary functions of old buildings is basically affirmed. Qin Bangxian's former residence is still well preserved, which is of great commemorative significance. Therefore, Wuxi Celebrity Memorial Hall is built with it as its core. With the original protection of Qin Chengzhi Hall, Qinhuai Haici, Jingfulou, Peony Bookstore, Jiufang Bookstore, Jimen of Confucian Temple, Minglun Hall, Gong Xue, Tongzhi Hall, etc. , they were relocated, * * * together to form Wuxi traditional customs and customs sightseeing square. Develop the secondary functions of the above-mentioned residential buildings, and combine them with new buildings, hold traditional handicraft exhibitions and folk art exhibitions, and open urban painting and calligraphy galleries, Wuxi local customs teahouses and local Chinese medicine clinics. Yuan Wen Square will become a public leisure place and tourist attraction similar to Shanghai Yuyuan Garden and Nanjing Confucius Temple. Realize the active protection of cultural relics under moderate utilization, make historical areas full of vitality, and then enhance the development level and taste of Wuxi urban culture.
Generally speaking, the plane and space of vernacular architecture are very simple, and there are no specific functional characteristics and corresponding formal characteristics, so it is flexible to use and can be used for many purposes. After the project is completed and opened, it can be readjusted according to the actual situation to obtain the best comprehensive benefits. This means that when the project is completed, the protection and utilization of local buildings will really begin. Wise managers should carefully and flexibly combine architectural protection with commercial operation and integrate into local customs. While protecting local buildings, some customs and activities based on this will be extended to a certain extent, and the potential value and cultural taste of the protected development areas in the city will be comprehensively improved. This may also produce a little "brand" effect, which will bring greater economic benefits to the protected development in the long run.
According to records, Wuxi was rich in old customs and activities, with frequent temple fairs and the famous "Ten Temples". During the temple fair, ceremonies such as welcoming the gods were held simultaneously, and the scene was very lively. In addition, there are various interesting custom activities in rural areas, such as temple fairs, Beitang incense parties, March incense parties and trade tea parties. These customs and activities did not stop until after the 1950s. If we can use "Yuan Wen Square" to revive the beneficial parts of these customs, for example, we can adopt the tradition of watching lanterns in Beitang, which is obviously meaningful.
2. Spatial integration If two types of protected buildings are juxtaposed, it is actually similar to the practice of "centralized protection". That is to say, buildings with no spatial relationship will be organized together in a small scope after relocation, including moving a cultural relic building unit to other cultural relic building units, or combining single buildings moved from different places into new buildings or urban folk squares according to the typical types of local buildings. This practice has long been considered inappropriate, because not only the original historical and environmental information was lost in the process of relocation, but also the non-existent space-time relationship between cultural relics from different sources was fabricated in the process of re-integration. Therefore, judging from the "authenticity" of the historical environment, this is indeed contrary to common sense. But for those scattered residential buildings that can't even guarantee their survival, it is a better choice in protection strategy, even an inevitable choice in the case of necessity. The integrated single building is "real", but the group space is "shaped", that is, the spatial relationship with some local characteristics is actually a bit similar to an elaborate open-air museum, where some local customs and environmental characteristics can be displayed intensively.
In the spatial layout of "Yuan Wen Square", the theme of local customs is emphasized, and the old buildings form the "core", while the new buildings are only arranged as "shells" on the east and west wings. At the same time, the relocated buildings are spatially integrated with the original two types of protected buildings, and the group layout characteristics of local residential buildings are considered as much as possible. For example, in the east of the base, because the location and layout of the original protected buildings are very irregular, the relocated protected buildings are interspersed with them in the layout, and after spatial integration, an external space that can be freely expanded and contracted is formed, which is similar to the typical traditional streets and lanes in Wuxi. For another example, in the West District, the relocated Jimen, Mingluntang and Gong Xue are still organized according to the original axis relationship in space. Jimen used to be the gate of the Confucian Temple, and it is appropriate in form and significance to take it as the main entrance to the west side of Yuan Wen Square. Jingfu Building is the most ornamental of the old buildings, so it is the main scene of the East Entrance Square. Peony Bookstore and Old Square Bookstore are located on both sides of the entrance, which means ancient "Shu" and can be used as ancient book bookstores. In this way, the buildings on both sides of "Yuan Wen Square" have an open square, forming the external space of the custom place.
3. Style Coordination Another key issue in the design of "Yuan Wen Plaza" is how to deal with the style coordination between new buildings and old buildings. Because the original preserved buildings in the base are integrated with the relocated Confucian Temple, Jimen and Gong Xue, a new overall relationship has been formed, and the old buildings with local characteristics have reached a certain scale. As long as the volume of the new building is well controlled, the dominant position and environmental atmosphere of the old building can be maintained. Therefore, under a certain control, the planning of new buildings on the east and west sides adopts the modern style of "opposing and complementing each other" with the old buildings, so as to distance themselves from each other in contrast and conflict and achieve the harmony between them, so as to embody the characteristics of the old buildings and the purpose of protection. The old building is a cultural relic building in the renovation base, while the new building borrows some parts of contemporary buildings. This virtual combination is intended to interpret the updated concept of "harmony but difference". In the part where the direct conflict occurs, the glass corridor is used as the transition space, so that the two are both divided and connected; Because of the glass corridor, the two buildings become a whole in the internal space, which is conducive to the reuse of the old buildings and avoids the independent existence of the two buildings as unrelated individuals. Finally, the squares, roads, green spaces and sketches on the square are all designed in combination with the nature of historical protection areas. For example, hard floor paving stones, traditional square bricks and small green bricks; Lamp stands and small sculptures are both new and old, to reflect the sense of history and traditional atmosphere, and to strengthen the harmony between new and old buildings.
Four. abstract
"Yuan Wen Square" is a highly researched project, which is of certain significance to explore the methods of protective utilization of local buildings. Especially for those scattered local buildings that can't be preserved in the large-scale renovation, including those with local cultural relics, the experiment of "Yuan Wen Square" as a preliminary attempt puts forward a strategy and way to resolve contradictions: while leaving some historical memories for the city as much as possible, leaving some material evidence of the civilization process, protective utilization will be integrated into the development of urban life.
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