Echoes of 1969 in Chengdu No.420 Factory Renovation Plan
By Chengrang Bai
Student ID: 20060256 Email: baichengrang@qq.com
MSA Architecture and Urbanism 2021
Copyright © 2021 Manchester, United Kingdom ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Manchester School of Architecture Manchester Metropolitan University (Student ID: 20060256) University of Manchester Copyright reserved by Chengrang Bai MA Architecture and Urbanism
Acknowledgements
On this occasion of completing my thesis project, I would like to thank the teachers at the Manchester School of Architecture for the training I received during my MA and my fellow students who completed studies with me. Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor, Professor Eamonn. His meticulous and conscientious work style has been an example for me to follow and has deeply influenced and inspired me. In the process of writing my dissertation, Professor Eamonn has helped me to develop my research ideas and provided me with meticulous guidance, and I have benefited greatly from his knowledge and rigour. I would also like to thank all the teachers and students who have provided me with valuable advice. I would also like to thank the residents of Factory 420 for their help during my fieldwork. Finally, I would like to thank my family for their encouragement and support. Although I have come to the end of this thesis, I still feel many regrets after thinking about it for a long time. Due to my professional and energy limitations, this dissertation still has many shortcomings, and I would like to invite criticism from experts and scholars. My master's degree is coming to an end, but my studies are not over yet, I still have a long way to go, and I will continue to move forward and strive for greater progress.
Echoes of 1969 in Chengdu
Life under the Overpass, Chengdu, 2021
Table of Contents
Chengdu 2 1 2 3 4 5
Where is Chengdu Urban Change One Space - Tianfu Square One Monument - Sichuan science and Technology Museum Early History
4 6 7 9 11
1969 14 6 Industrialisation 7 Industrial Heritage: Hongguang Electronic Tube Factory (Case Study) 8 Industrial Heritage: Factory No. 420 (Shuangqiao Community)
15 17 19
Echoes 30 9 Design Stragey - No.420 Factory Renovation Plan 10 Social survey 11 Visionary Image 12 Logic of Form 13 Programme Process 14 Isometric Model 15 Master Plan 16 Functions and Zoning 18 Materials 19 Flows 20 Housing Type 21 Elevation 22 Section 23 New story
31 33 34 35 36 37 39 41 43 45 47 49 53 57
Conclusion 74 Reference and Picture credits 75
Echoes of 1969 in Chengdu
1
Shudu Avenue in Chengdu
2
Topographical map of Chengdu Plain
3
1. Where is Chengdu Chengdu, known as "Rong", also known as Rongcheng and Jincheng, is the capital of Sichuan Province and an important central city in western China. In 2020, Chengdu has a resident population of approximately 20.93 million.
Chengdu Plain
Sichuan Tower of China in Chengdu
4
City Centre
First Ring Road
Current Map of Chengdu
5
6 KM
2. Urban Change A specific map of this city was made in about the 14th century. Until the 19th century after many dynasties The size of the city did not change much. But the buildings in it had been destroyed by the dynastic changes. Most of the buildings have disappeared you cannot find them now. But it is interesting that the city centre of Chengdu and Central axis has not changed since the 14th century.
1984
About 1400
1994
2004 1911
2014
First Ring Road
1986 Central axis - Tianfu Avenue
Maps of different times
2020 Urban Development
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3. One Space - Tianfu Square Tianfu Square is the political and cultural centre and comprehensive transportation hub of Chengdu, located in a section of Renmin South Road, Qingyang District, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, in the heart of the city. It is the starting point of Renmin East Road, Renmin West Road, Renmin Middle Road and Renmin South Road. Its form and status is similar to that of Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
2017
7
History
Sichuan science and Technology Museum
Statue of Mao
Tianfu Square
2007 In 2007 the new Tianfu Square was built, but it was still a little different from the current square. At that time it was oval in shape, but in 2011 it was changed to a circle.
1997 By 1969 the earliest Tianfu Square had been built, including Renmin Nan Road. At this time Tianfu Square was still a very simple lawn.
1966 In 1382, the Shuwang Palace was built. It was the first building to define the city centre and its central axis of Chengdu. But the whole building was demolished in 1966 for complicated reasons.
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4. One Monument - Sichuan Science and Technology Museum The Sichuan Science and Technology Museum is located on the north side of Tianfu Square in the centre of Chengdu, converted from the former Sichuan Exhibition Hall, covering an area of 60,000m² and a building area of 41,800m². It was opened on 2 November 2006, and after 10 years of operation, was completely renovated in June 2016.The Sichuan Science and Technology Museum is one of the ten landmark projects for the construction of cultural facilities in Sichuan Province during the Tenth Five-Year Plan.
Built in 1969
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Prototype
1959
The Great Hall of the People, Beijing
In fact Sichuan Science and Technology Museum is an imitation of the Great Hall of the People, built in 1959. They both have huge simple facades and many tall columns. Their colours are also red, yellow and white. Another more interesting fact is that China has a large number of similar buildings.
Imitate
Imitation 1991
...
Shijiazhuang Museum
1969
Tatung Exhibition Hall
1968
Handan City Museum
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5. Early History: The Ancient Jinsha Culture in Chengdu A Mysterious Culture: Discovered in 2001 in downtown Chengdu, the Jinsha site, spread over an area of about 5 square kilometres, was the capital of the ancient Shu kingdom, the centre of ancient civilisation in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, from the 12th century BC to the 7th century BC (about 3200 - 2600 years ago).
History Gold Mask and Sun Brid
11
Jade
Before 1950 For many complex reasons China missed out on two industrial revolutions, so before 1950 There aren't any real factories in CD. Chengdu is an inland city, which is located in the middle of China. So It is difficult for Chengdu to bring in technology and capital to develop the industry. At the same time, some local wars during this period slowed down the process of industrialisation. The factories of this time in CD were only Handicraft Workshops. They cannot produce modern industrial products.
Chengdu
00
KM
Hongkong
Carpenter Making A Bed in 1941
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City Tower in 1917
Comb Stalls in 1911
No Factory
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Echoes of 1969 in Chengdu
13
Eastern Suburb Memory Exhibition Park
14
6. Industrialisation: 1950s-1970s By the 1950s, Chengdu began to develop its industry for two major reasons: firstly, technical Assistance from the Soviet Union. The second reason was the implementation of China's First Five-Year Plan. At this time new factories were built in Chengdu, such as the electronic tube factory. This is the green dot in the picture is an electronic tube factory. At the same time, many factories from the coast and the northeast moved to Chengdu. All of them were located far from the city centre, outside the first ring road.
First Five-Year Plan +
Newly built factory in the 1950s
15
What about these factories NOW In the industrial era, most of the factories in Chengdu were built on the east side. But as Chengdu developed, Chengdu became busier and busier and crowded within the Third Ring Road. The noise and pollution from these factories became a serious problem. Around 2001, the government introduced a policy called "Restructuring of the Eastern Suburbs Industrial Estate". Factories on the eastern side of Chengdu began to be relocated, renovated, or sold off. Some factories sold their land to real estate companies, so their factory buildings were demolished. The land was used to build new Residential buildings or shopping malls.
Restructuring of the Eastern Suburbs Industrial Estate
Conversion
Demolition
16
7. Industrial Heritage: Hongguang Electronic Tube Factory (Case Study)
ah
eR
ay Railw
R a ilw ay
Sh
ive
r
2003
7. Now is Eastern Suburb Memory Exhibition Park
2019
17
1958
1990s
This factory was designed and built in 1958 by Soviet architects. They are classical red brick buildings. and it is located next to the Shahe River, which also had the railway for transporting raw materials. At that time it mainly produced electronic tubes and televisions.
However, with the opening up of China, this government-owned factory began to fail in the 1990s. By 2009, the factory completely stopped production and the railway was dismantled due to urban development.
Demolition Conversion Preservation
2011
Some factories kept their buildings and then converted and reused these buildings. They have been turned into parks, exhibition halls or museums. The most famous representative of this is the Hongguang Electronic Tube Factory. Then The government transformed the factory into a park and completed in 2011. The park was named " Eastern Suburb Memory". After the renovation, it covers an area of about 140,000 square metres. Most of the old buildings have been preserved.
Outdoor Stage
Hot Pot Restaurant
Promenade
18
Se
con
dR
ing
Ro a
d
Fir st
Rin
gR oa
d
8. Industrial Heritage: Factory No. 420 (Shuangqiao Community)
19
From Shenyang to Chengdu
Thir
dR
ing
Roa d
In 1958, the 111 factory in Shenyang was moved to Chengdu, located next to what is the second ring road now. At that time the second ring road was farmland.
No.420 Factory City Axis and Center
20
No.420 Factory: One Factory, One City Street Haircut
Shuanglin Primary School
n i v i L
Tailor's shop
a e r gA
y r o t Fac 21
Fruit stall
Preservation
Demolition
About 20,000 workers and 80,000 their family members moved to Chengdu by train with the 111 factory move.The 420 factory was built in just 100 days and immediately workers started production. Meanwhile, many support facilities, infrastructures and workers' houses were built around the factory. The workers and their families lived in this small city. There are kindergartens, schools and even a university for the workers studying new Technology and knowledge. There are also some clubs. The workers go to the clubs to dance and relax after work. Of course, there was also a market. They can buy all kinds of food there.
New construction
22
No.420 Factory: City Patterns
23
The area of this factory is exactly 500m*500m. You can see that the buildings are arranged in a very regular manner. This was not common in early Chinese cities. One of the main reasons for this is that the factory was designed by a Soviet architect. And from this image, It is easy to find out where the highrise buildings are. Because of their completely different shapes. That is also where the original factory building was located.We can focus more on the space except for the building. The small rooads in this community can be clearly identified by the black parts. Then on the left are the old dormitories. You can see that they have very little public space. On the right, however, the high-rise houses have a much larger public space.
24
No.420 Factory: Axonometric Roofscape with Shadows
21 M
25
This one shows the axonometric view of this place. It is easy to locate the upper floors of the houses in this map. The rest of the buildings are old houses that have been preserved from the last century. Most of them are only 6 or 7 storeys. They are placed one next to the other. Almost only the necessary spacing has been left. At the same time we can clearly see the impact of the new highrise houses on the old ones. One of the most obvious is the fact that they block the sunlight. Just a few tall buildings affect the lighting of most of the homes in the centre of this place.
New high-rise houses
Workers' dormitories 60 M
Other functions
26
No.420 Factory: One Day of Mr. Lee
27
At 3 o'clock retired worker Mr. Lee hurried back from outside, as his grandson was going to leave kindergarten in a short time. As soon as he walked into the Shuangqiao community, he heard his friend Mr. Wang joking at him from the sixth floor balcony of the old workers' dormitory: "Lee, you almost forgot to pick up your grandson again? Come and play Chinese chess later!" So Lee replied, "Okay, okay!" In a short while the gate of the community kindergarten was full of people picking up their children. Lee also stood in the crowd chatting with his worker friends. It did not take long for his adorable grandson to come running towards him from the kindergarten, which was built in the last century. Lee held his grandson's hand through the alleys of this community and came to a small fruit stall, where his grandson happily pointed to apples and said, "I want to eat some apples". Then Lee carried the apples and held his grandson's hand as he greeted and chatted with friends along the way. In a short while they had walked to their home - a new high-rise residential building in the Shuangqiao community - and were ready to go home. At this point the grandson suddenly said, " Isn't grandpa going to play Chinese chess today? " At 4 o'clock between the old workers' dormitory buildings, Lee and his friend were playing Chinese chess while the children played. The space, though small, is filled with the laughter of old people and children.
28
Echoes of 1969 in Chengdu
29
West Village built in 2014, by Jiakun Architects
30
9 Design Stragey - No.420 Factory Renovation Plan
C ?
31
Chengdu Echoes 1969 32
10 Social survey
They They They They
33
don’t like Tall Block. (Low buildings) don’t like Cars. (Car Parking) need housing, hospital, kindergarten, etc. (New functions and Well-established infrastructure) need parks, forests, sports grounds, small museums, etc. (Public spaces)
11 Visionary Image
34
12 Logic of Form
1
2
3
Put a palace into centre of the site
Rotating the building's axis parallel to what was once the Shu Palace (City Centre).
The palace walls were turned into a skywalk and the building was moved around to leave a central square.
4
5
6
The building was also raised so that people from the surrounding area could reach the inner square.
Memory units were inserted to enrich the function of the site and to link all the buildings.
To avoid the sharpness of the building. The form has been partially adapted. The whole building becomes a central open palace.
35
13 Programme Process
13 March 2021
3 June 2021
24 June 2021
8 July 2021
36
14 Isometric Model
37
38
15 Master Plan
6
2 4
4
1
3
5
39
3
1
Public Space 1 Entrance Plaza 2 Central Square 3 Sky Walk
10 0
30 50
Building 4 Mixed-use Housing 5 Kindergarten 6 Senior Activity Centre 40
16 Functions and Zoning
...
Hospital
Recreation
Central
...
Museum
41
Theatre
Pavilion
Parking ...
Roof Garden
Housing
Square
Kindergarten
Cycling
Running
42
Structure
Skin
17 Materials
44
Glass curtain wall
Staircase and Skywalk
Red Brick
Steel and Concrete
Asphalt
18 Ground Floor and Flows
45
46
19 Housing Type
47
30 m2: Singles and couples
90 m2: Big Family
60 m2: Small family
48
19 South Elevation
49
50
West Elevation
51
52
20 Section
53
54
Section
55
56
21 New Story: 10:00 AM
57
Senior Activity Centre At 10am Mr Lee went to the Senior Centre for a regular check-up. On the way, he also met his elderly friend who was accidentally injured. His friend can also easily convalesce at the Senior Centre.
58
3:00 PM
59
Kindergarten After stopping by the senior centre for a quick meal, Mr Lee took his time to pick up his grandson from school.
60
5:00 PM
61
Entrance Plaza Walking home with his grandson Mr. Lee, suddenly his grandson said he wanted an apple. They went back to the fruit shop in the small square to pick up the fruit.
62
7:00 PM
63
Central Square After dinner, Mr Li went to the central square to chat with his friends and play chess. Children also play happily here.
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Video Tour: Https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LSgcQiiBEE
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Conclusion This project was designed to give new life and a higher quality of life to the 420 factory, a reserve full of memories of the last century. The function and layout of the circular building focuses more on the retired workers and their families who live here, hoping that the elderly and children will live happily and healthily in this place. At the same time, the transparent ground floor of the building is intended to attract the neighbourhood for recreation.
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Reference and Picture Credit Chengdu on the Map: A Thousand-Year History of the City on the Map. (2020) Weibo.com. [Online] [Accessed on 9 May 2021] https://weibo.com/ttarticle/ p/show?id=2309404533399829479471.
Gold Mask, Sun Brid and Jade image by Jinsha Museum.
Twitchett, D., Fairbank, J., Loewe, M., Franke, H., Mote, F., Liu, K., MacFarquhar, R., Feuerwerker, A., Peterson, W., Smith, P. and Chaffee, J., 2015. The Cambridge history of China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Tianfu square image by VCG.com.
West Village. (2020) Gooood.cn. [Online] [Accessed on 9 May 2021] https://www.gooood.cn/west-village-basisyard-by-jiakun-architects.htm.
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Images supplied by Chengrang Bai.
Statue of Mao image by VCG.com. Sichuan science and Technology Museum image by CDSTM.com.
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