LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS - scape - Landscape architecture and ...

Yanan Green Space.
labour. They can easily be tempted to move to
the cities where wages and living standards are
higher. Neither does China have a shortage of
hard working, entrepreneurial and independently-minded
people. Besides their own families
and friends, money is high on most people’s list
of priorities. It is quiet normal for these workers
to live literally on the building site, in barracks,
and move on to the next site when the work is
finished. Building is a continuous process: in
Beijing and Shanghai the sound of construction
can be heard ringing out from the brightly lit
sites throughout the night.
The rapid changes taking place in China are
going hand in hand with a major social
upheaval. The old districts in the big cities, the
hutongs in Beijing and the lilongs in Shanghai,
are being swept away and replaced by new developments.
In these alleyway districts, with their
tightly-knit social and economic networks, the
houses are grouped around patios and courtyards
linked together by narrow alleys. Much of
the social life in these districts takes places
outdoors. For many of the inhabitants these
close social networks make the primitive conditions
in these crowded districts – with their tiny
living quarters which often lack private toilet
facilities – far more preferable to the comforts of
the anonymous high-rise flats. But this is not
reflected in the government-controlled media.
In the Shanghai Daily you will find only gushing
praise for the new developments being built for
the 2010 World Expo, while more than ten thousand
families are being evicted from their homes
to make way for them. The censors do not allow
open criticism of these projects for ‘progress
and improvement’.
Faceless cities
The West is the model for progress. Fashion is
Western; even the billboards are dominated by
white Western models. In the new China,
customs and traditions hardly seem to matter
anymore. The old ways, such as practising t’ai
chi on the street or in the park before work, are
still followed by the older generations, but are of
little interest to the younger generation. Even
traditional Chinese architecture and town planning
seem to have been marginalised. Architects
are flown in from Europe to design whole new
districts on the Western model.
In taking this route China is not doing justice
to its own rich architectural tradition. This disregard
for China’s own values and customs – its
people’s very identity – is threatening to disrupt
the social fabric. Beijing and Shanghai are
already being called ‘faceless cities’, and the first
calls have been made to preserve a few alleyway
districts for posterity. In this respect the growing
tourist industry in China’s main cities may be
their salvation. Besides excursions to the Forbidden
City and Tiananmen Square (Gate of Heavenly
Peace), a visit to Beijing is not complete
without a tour of one of the alleyway districts,
where new tourist bars are springing up all the
time. Paradoxically enough, transforming a
traditional alley into a street full of bars may just
be the way to save the hutong. There is also
increasing interest in the more recent heritage,
as evidenced by the NEW 798 area in Beijing.
This industrial complex, built in the 1950s by
the Russians and designed by East German
architects in the Bauhaus style, was on the list for
clearance. However, in 2002 the area was taken
over by a group of artists and is now a lively
neighbourhood of galleries, studios, restaurants
and cafes. The communist slogans of the period
– ‘Long Live Chairman Mao’ – which cover the
walls throughout the complex are a tangible
reminder of China’s history and form a striking
backdrop to the contemporary works of art.
Chinese toys
It is remarkable how quickly the Chinese have
put their own stamp on the building boom. The
building projects completed in Beijing and
Shanghai a few years ago are still marred by
Zhu Jia Jiao, or Cambridge Watertown.
numerous flaws. At first sight they seem to be
quite impressive reproductions, but closer
inspection reveals the failings of the builders.
The detailing in a project like Sa Na Wei La Villa
Park, a gated community designed by the
Chinese firm Turenscape, is well below standard.
The drainage is poorly designed throughout, as
if it was decided to add the drainpipes at the last
minute when construction was already well
underway – a defect that also plagues the previously
mentioned Anting district. The buildings
in Sa Na Wei La Villa Park are also aging quickly.
The development is rather like a Chinese toy: it
looks attractive at first sight, but does not stand
up well to heavy use.
The projects now under construction, though,
are up to the same standard as new buildings in
Europe. The phase of minor but nevertheless
obtrusive flaws is over, and the building designs
are particularly well suited to their environment.
In the German theme town of Anting, in the
area surrounding the new South Station and in
the new Zhu Jia Jiao district (Cambridge Water
Town) near Shanghai no expense has been
spared on the public spaces. The outdoor areas
have been carefully designed using high quality
materials (brick pavers, Chinese granite setts)
Sa Na Wei La Villa Park.
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