Chinanews, Chongqing, July 8th: How to renew the old city?
Tips for Major Architecture Design Competition
Author Zhao Xiaoyu Zhong Yi
The old song and dance hall will be transformed into a film and television theme restaurant, the old alleyway will be turned into a "check-in point" for tourists, and the deserted site can be upgraded to a large stage for residents to dance the dam...How the old city is rejuvenated with new vitality is the current social fever Topic of discussion.
The reporter was informed on the 8th that 50 undergraduates majoring in architecture from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Chongqing University have come to the countryside and communities for several months, and they have used the "down-to-earth" architectural design competition to offer clever ideas for urban renewal.
According to reports, the "protagonist" of this design competition is the water and soil streets in Beibei District, Chongqing.
The street has a long history. The old street is built on the hillside and is built by the river, with undulating heights, narrow lanes and steep slopes, with typical mountain settlement characteristics.
However, as the process of urbanization accelerates, as a typical case of urban fringe spaces, water and soil streets need to be renewed in development.
"My design theme is'preservation'. It is better not to demolish the old buildings. We must respect the nostalgic feelings of the old residents, including brick by brick changes." Li Yitong, a 21-year-old architectural junior student Teammate Yang Qiaoyi told reporters that they used the concept of "Light, Shadow, Water and Soil" to imagine the changes in the old streets.
The picture shows a schematic diagram of the design works exhibited by the students.
Photo by Zhou Yi
In the nine weeks when the design scheme was developed from scratch, they visited and investigated many times and found that the water and soil public spaces are scattered, with few supporting facilities, and lack of core industry support, but the old buildings may provide certain material conditions for the construction of film and television bases.
"We focus on the old song and dance hall and other buildings, and want to complete the update and activation by improving the infrastructure and developing the film and television industry." Li Yitong introduced that his design plan includes proper opening of the tunnel entrance, restoration of the facade along the river, Dividing film and television shooting locations with different styles in different periods, etc., fully respect the architectural form and atmosphere during the renovation, and also protect the original memory of time for the residents of Lao Cai.
Students Yu Mingyang and Long Feifei started with the concept of "One side of the water and soil, one side of the people", and "the residents and tourists live in harmony" as the focus of the design.
In the "One Water and Soil" plan, they selected the Shuitu Lingjiang community as a pilot area, connecting the entire area with Hepingxiang as the main trunk line, and renovating and expanding the main nodes such as the auditorium to achieve the purpose of regional linkage to feed back the old street.
Yu Mingyang mentioned that Shuitu Old Street not only has the distinctive characteristics of a "city of mountains and rivers", but also has cultural characteristics such as the former county-level political, economic and cultural center, third-line construction, and intangible cultural heritage, which can attract a large number of tourists.
They specially designed circular trails, courtyard dams, landscape plazas, book houses and other facilities to not only provide residents with more leisure space, but also meet the diverse needs of tourists.
"Let students get out of the classroom, walk into the countryside and communities, focus on practice and be grounded, and better integrate professional knowledge into the residents' daily life and community development needs. This is the undergraduate professional curriculum planning of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Chongqing University in recent years. A highlight of the teaching reform, and through several years of course organization, good teaching results and social effects have been achieved." According to Tian Qi, the person in charge of competition planning, organization and course, associate professor of the School of Architecture and Urban Planning of Chongqing University, this teaching practice has been implemented since 5 this year. Initiated this month, participating students collected objective and accurate first-hand information through various forms such as selecting subjects for one-on-one interviews, walking around the streets, in-depth communities, making questionnaires, and analyzing typical cases.
In the process of participating, the students not only understood the demands of ordinary residents in the old community for a better life, but also provided a realistic basis for the community managers' specific strategies for urban renewal actions.
In an interview with reporters, Chang Xianzhi, director of the Water and Soil Sub-district Office of Beibei District, Chongqing City, said that the students’ designs have their own characteristics, which are cleverly conceived, close to life, friendly, and in line with actual requirements.
In the next step, the street will gradually promote the revitalization and renewal of the old street, laying the foundation for market-oriented operation, and continuously improving the quality of urban life.
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