Three schemes for the reconstruction of historical blocks outside Qianmen _ Protection requirements of historical blocks

There are many historical and cultural reserves in Beijing, a famous historical and cultural city. Each reserve is an important part of the ancient capital city culture and has its own unique quality. In the overall protection of famous cities, it is necessary to classify different objects in detail, and determine protection methods and measures according to their characteristics according to local conditions, so as to maintain cultural diversity in the unified cultural atmosphere of ancient capitals. There are generally four kinds of protection objects in historical and cultural protection areas: block structure with historical spatial scale and characteristics, cultural relics buildings associated with historical events and historical figures, ordinary historical buildings that provide material evidence for traditional cultural connotations, and place spirit generated by the above-mentioned space and architectural entities. At this level, cultural diversity has changed from concept to different entities, and each protected object needs different protection and utilization strategies, and the formulation of strategies needs basis, and the source of basis is the judgment and choice of the value of protected objects. Whether the protection target is set correctly and the protected object is used properly depends on the accurate grasp of value, otherwise the protection of historical and cultural cities will fail. In September, 2004, the Yongdingmen Gate, which disappeared for 47 years, was rebuilt, and the central axis was completely reproduced because it resumed its starting point. On August 7, 2008, Qianmen Street, which was rebuilt according to the street style of the Republic of China, reopened. At the same time, several hutongs in Dashilan area on the west side of Qianmen Street have been partially transformed, and the three historical and cultural carriers of protection and transformation have become the new look of Qianmen area in Beijing. In the transformation of the above three objects, there are three different attitudes and three different countermeasures. The place spirit of the block is naturally different, and the value orientation reflected is worth re-examining.

Restorative Reconstruction ―― Reconstruction of Yongdingmen Tower

In the 43rd year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty (1564), an urn was built outside the tower in order to increase the preventive function of the outer city of Beijing, and a doorway was opened on the south side of the urn wall, corresponding to the doorway of the tower. 1644, when Li Zicheng's Dashun Army was forced to withdraw from Beijing, it set fire to some palaces and towers. In the thirty-first year of Qing Qianlong (1766), when Yongdingmen was rebuilt, a watchtower was added and the regulations of the watchtower were improved, making Yongdingmen the tallest and largest city gate among the seven outer cities. 1950, in order to get through the railway around Beijing, the urn was dismantled. (see photo 1) 1957, in order to expand the traffic avenue leading to Yongdingmen, the tower and watchtower were demolished, and the moat that originally surrounded the urn was cut and straightened. Since then, the south starting point of Beijing's central axis has disappeared and is no longer complete. Until June 1 day, 2000, a famous expert in cultural relics construction, mainly Mr. Wang, wrote a Proposal on Rebuilding Yongdingmen Gate to the relevant departments of Beijing Municipal Government, demanding that the protection of historical context be emphasized and the integrity of the central axis be restored, which was approved by the government. In September 2004, according to the Swedish National Museum scholar Oss Voorde? Xirenlong 192 1 photos of Beijing city gates and city walls and related surveying and mapping data, 1938 investigation data of Mr. Liang Sicheng, 1937 measured map of Yongdingmen Tower, 194 1 to/kloc-. Rich historical and survey data make the reconstruction of Yongdingmen less speculative; The practices, materials and techniques are original, and the style of Yongdingmen is reproduced. Therefore, the reconstructed Yongdingmen is a "fake antique" in terms of the authenticity of the entity, but it is also a true culture to a certain extent, and it is the beginning of the cultural axis of Beijing Imperial City.

The line from Yongdingmen to Qianmen in the old city of Beijing is the southern section of Beijing's central axis in Ming and Qing Dynasties and an important part of Beijing, especially Yongdingmen, the head of the 7.8-kilometer central axis. The central axis is regarded as "the symbol of political ideas such as national unity, excellent cultural continuity, balanced social structure and reasonable living order", and has become the core landscape of Beijing with its ceremonial spiritual value. Yongdingmen is the vertical intersection of the outer city of Beijing and the central axis. Since the wall outside the front door of Beijing in the Ming Dynasty was incorporated into the city defense, it replaced the front door (Zhengyangmen) and became the main entrance to Beijing's opening to the south. It is both the gate and the endpoint of the central axis. In China's south-facing culture, the position of Yongdingmen is very important whether it is natural factors or spiritual needs. In view of the meaning of "Yongdingmen", the ruling institutions in ancient China hoped that people could live and work in peace and contentment, the whole society could develop in harmony and order, and the country could prosper. The ancient society of China was regarded as the cultural body of "home is the world". The concept of "home" rules the world, and the stability of home is the premise of "the prosperity of all things". So the ideal of Yongding was posted on the front door of the capital Beijing, and all etiquette, rules and regulations were based on it. It can be seen that the important role of Yongdingmen in the central axis of the city and Beijing has been given a very high level. From the perspective of history, culture and society, Yongdingmen, like other city gates, is an important historical and cultural carrier. Its reconstruction makes people's memory of Beijing's city gates and walls partially true again, and the concept and reality overlap again, and Beijing's history and culture have been substantially preserved and passed down.

Reconstruction of Reasoning ―― Reconstruction of Qianmen Street

The section from Moon Bay of Qianmen Arrow Tower to zhushikou in the south was reopened on August 7, 2008 after renovation, and the new Qianmen Commercial Street was changed into a pedestrian street, which expanded the activity space and increased the activity content, and injected new vitality into the old business district of Beijing. At the beginning of the renovation plan, this famous commercial street was determined to restore the style of Qianmen Street in the early years of the Republic of China, on the grounds that "Qianmen Street (see Figure 3), which was formed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, was completely burned down as early as 1900 when Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China. Qianmen Street, which is familiar to old Beijingers, was formed in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China and reached its peak in the 1920s and 1930s. " Accordingly, on the reopened street, the green and white stone pavement reappeared in the position of Imperial Road, and five archways reappeared at the northern end of the street as landmark buildings. Trams reappeared after 40 years of disappearance, and some buildings along the street were rebuilt according to photos of the Republic of China. However, the original principle of protecting and repairing Qianmen Street was not fully realized, and what was finally realized was "imitating a street in the Republic of China", and it was an imitation with too many speculative elements (see Figure 4). In addition, some post-modern design techniques have appeared in a fake street, and some traditional China shapes and decorative elements have been applied to the beautification and decoration of the street, such as bird cages, rattle street lamps, stone drum flower pots and so on. Although we tried our best to create a street image with China implication, it deviated from the principle of historical block protection, making the reconstructed Qianmen Street a "reinterpreted" Qianmen Street. Postmodern elements covered up the image of antique buildings and buildings imitating the Republic of China, and it was difficult to find traces of the historical features of Qianmen Street in the early Republic of China.

Local Transformation ―― Microcirculatory Transformation in Langfang Second Hutong

Langfang No.2 is an alley in Dashilan business district of Qianmen, with a long history. Since it became a street in the Ming Dynasty, commerce has been relatively developed. Shops along the street in the Qing Dynasty mainly engaged in jewelry, jade, jade, coral and calligraphy and painting, and were the famous jewelry and jade business centers in Beijing. The business activities of jewelry and jade continued until the eve of liberation. Because the urban formation of Nancheng is different from the rigorous planning of the inner city, most of them are naturally generated. Therefore, most architectural forms are relatively small and free, not as strictly bound by laws and regulations as the inner city. The reason can be traced back to the implementation of the policy of "Manchu and Han live in different cities" after the Qing soldiers entered the city, and the Han people were forced to move out of the inner city and live with Luobotang in the low-lying outer city. Coupled with the prosperity of business, the land price is expensive, and for the sake of economy, the storefront facade is relatively narrow. At the east entrance of the street, there are more than a dozen small buildings in the late Qing Dynasty. There are iron railings overlooking the platform outside the window, and the words carved on the eaves are faintly visible. Most of the buildings left on the street are Chinese-style and Chinese-western buildings. The change of architectural style has not worn away the standardized commercial system in Yongle period of Ming Dynasty, but still witnessed the development history of Qianmen commerce. The early trading activities of gold, silver, pearls and jade articles have now been replaced by Beijing snacks, and sporadic calligraphy and painting jade articles shops can only be traced back to history. However, the transformation of street function does not affect the preciousness of historical remains, nor does it affect the pattern, scale and architectural art of urban blocks. They are integrated into a spirit of historic city. With the joint efforts of the government and many cultural relics protection experts, the historical buildings along the street were protected and demolished in the process of micro-circulation transformation in Dashilan area, and most valuable buildings were protected through local transformation. As Mr. Xie Chensheng suggested, "Some valuable places that really need to be rebuilt or demolished can be rebuilt on the spot to keep the texture of hutong as much as possible", while other houses that are worthless are demolished. The micro-circulation transformation of two hutongs in Langfang is different from the transformation of Qianmen Street, which protects the street space scale and the single historical building in it to the maximum extent, and realizes the authenticity of urban cultural protection as far as possible while continuing the history and culture. (See Figure 5)

Three results

In the transformation of the old city outside Qianmen, according to different value orientations, three different methods were adopted for cultural relics: restorative transformation, inferential transformation and microcirculation transformation, and the final building presented three different transformation results. The reconstruction of Qianmen Street has a certain degree of subjective speculation, and the style of the built block is the most distorted. The reconstruction of Yongdingmen has more basis and reference, belongs to restorative reconstruction, and has certain "cultural authenticity" on the spiritual level of history and culture; The local maintenance and reconstruction represented by Langfang Second Lane belongs to micro-circulation reconstruction, which largely protects the texture of hutong in the old city, the original flavor of block buildings, the place spirit of street space and the "original ecology" of historical blocks.

The protection of the old city of Beijing should refer to the principles and practical experience of cultural heritage protection in various countries in the world, proceed from our own cultural characteristics and take the continuation of cultural life as the core. The historical block structure, cultural relic buildings, historical buildings and places outside Qianmen are the main carriers of Beijing's civilian life, and the history outside Qianmen is the history of Beijing's civilians. Crowded blocks are the settlements of residents in Guanxiang in Ming Dynasty. Colorful street life is the mother of cultural diversity produced by the mixed residence of lower-level officials and ordinary people in Qing Dynasty. Its value coverage should be a broader and more inclusive pan-value orientation, which can not only accommodate jewelry and jade articles, but also fully accommodate local specialty snacks, like Langfang No.2 Middle School ... Just as Mr. Xie Chensheng suggested, it is necessary to preserve and restore its street style and texture as much as possible, but also to demolish what really needs to be demolished. In the hutong with micro-circulation transformation, shops with historical content and value have been well repaired, masonry plaques embedded in the walls have been cleaned and protected, and local decayed wooden components have been repaired and replaced, basically maintaining the original shape and style. The protection of the second corridor is a good practice in the protection of the old city outside Qianmen. The value orientation meets the requirements of the original economic and cultural diversity in this area, and the culture and vitality of the old city are expected to be further extended.

Yongdingmen is a memorial cultural relic building, which is not directly related to today's life, but has more important historical and cultural value. It is related to Beijing's past, present and future, and it is a part of Beijing's "collective memory" and an integral part of Beijing's memories, dreams and hopes. Unfortunately, Yongdingmen was demolished together with the Beijing City Wall in 1950s, and the original history and real architectural entity disappeared with the development of the city. After reconstruction, if measured by the Venice Charter, it does not have the authenticity and historicity of the entity, nor does it have integrity. However, in view of the characteristics of China's wooden buildings and the flexible grasp of the concept of authenticity, it has played a role in preserving history and culture and continuing the spirit of the city. The reconstruction of Yongdingmen originated from the need to repair the central axis in the old city of Beijing. As the origin of the central axis, its reconstruction is complete, but as a larger part of the environment, it does not have integrity, because the city wall, urn and watchtower no longer exist, and the moat is cut and straightened. Therefore, comprehensively measuring the reconstruction achievements of Yongdingmen, it only has the spiritual support function of cultural relics. Although the building itself is not a historical relic, the accuracy of the reconstruction basis and the effectiveness of the reference make it culturally authentic in concept. It has undoubtedly played a supporting role in the continuation of Beijing's imperial capital culture. It has restored the integrity of the central axis that has condensed the design, culture, wisdom and imagination of China people for thousands of years, and its significance has surpassed the historical value of cultural relics. People's imagination of Yongdingmen, their yearning for the splendor of the imperial capital and their expectation for the stability and prosperity of the country have made people leave the level of cultural relics protection that questioned its authenticity.

In contrast, the reconstruction of Qianmen Street is a pseudo-historical block. In the process of reconstruction, due to the lack of reconstruction basis, only a few buildings have photos of the early years of the Republic of China, and so on. The reconstructed buildings only pay attention to the practicality of modern life and abandon the artistic value and historical value of the old commercial street. From the perspective of historical and cultural protection, it is neither the style of the Republic of China nor the ancient style, but the result of eclectic urban design.

Both hutongs in Langfang belong to historical blocks, and most of the buildings along the street belong to historical buildings. Compared with the former two, in the process of micro-circulation transformation, most historical buildings follow the three protection principles of historicity, authenticity and integrity. Most of the buildings in the old city outside Qianmen are dangerous buildings with wooden structures, with dense population and backward living facilities. The quality of life of housing users lags far behind that of modern life, which contributes to the power of old city reconstruction and also constitutes an obstacle to old city protection. Solving the contradiction between modern life and cultural relics will effectively prolong the life of historical buildings in the old city. Microcirculation transformation basically conforms to the universal principle of cultural heritage protection and maintains the authenticity of architecture in form and spirit; Adhere to a certain historicity in the protection of valuable buildings; Through the protection of the texture of the old hutong, the local integrity is realized. The micro-circulation transformation of two hutongs in Langfang makes the protection of Dashilan area more successful than Yongdingmen and Qianmen Street. The reason is to have a more accurate judgment and grasp of the value of the protected object.

Looking at the renovation of the historical block outside Qianmen, and analyzing three different ways to protect historical and cultural objects, we can see that the connotations of historical and cultural carriers in the old city are different, and the value cohesion points are also different. Protection strategies and measures should be formulated and implemented separately, but on the premise of accurate and appropriate value judgment.

refer to

1. Zhang Song's Introduction to the Protection of Historic Cities: A Holistic Approach to the Protection of Cultural Heritage and Historical Environment, Tongji University Press, 2008.

2. Wang, Cultural Halo: Ten Theories on the Protection of Historic Sites, Tianjin Ancient Books Publishing House, 2004.

3. Ruan's Theory of Urban Heritage Protection, Shanghai Science and Technology Press, 2005.

4. Zhang Jinqi Hundred Years Dashilan, Chongqing Publishing House, 2008.

5. Li Jianping's Central Axis of Charming Beijing, Culture and Art Publishing House, 2008.

6. Appreciation and Protection of Famous City Culture, Dong Ruan, Tongji University Press, 1993.

7. Chen Jianbo wrote "New Qianmen Street Renovation Business Revival", source: Focus on Guangzhou Shops Network. Https://news。 Omit/show.aspxpage = 2&; & ampid = 27535 & ampcid= 174

8. Renovation of Beijing Dashilan: Demolition and Protection at the same time, article source: People's Daily Overseas Edition, omitted/article/cyzx/200605/1328.html.

Wang Haijun: Tsinghua University Academy of Fine Arts

Column Planning and Editor: Zhao Zhuo