Modern buildings and blocks in open port city, which are an essential part of the urban context, possess unspoken values of material properties and cultural resources for the urban future. According to the investigation of Taiyanggou Block and Lvshun Industrial School Site in Lvshun (China), this paper aims to discuss the understanding and conservation of modern heritage. Firstly, it interprets the opening of modern Lvshun and the formation of Taiyanggou Block to provide the fundamental knowledge. After a brief introduction of Lvshun Industrial School Site, the paper analyzes the problems in conservation practice and proposes countermeasures on heritage management and reuse strategy. Finally, it indicates that to conserve modern heritage means to preserve and to enhance their integrated values of space and culture in the framework of local development.
Open port city is the window of western culture transmission and the outpost of modernization in modern China. In addition, it is the pilot also and main body of the urban transformation. Under the influence of “West Learning”, plenty of the buildings there appear typically non-native features, and become a unique type in the map of Chinese modern architecture. Those remains significantly constitute the urban context and turn into an important part of architectural heritage in China, with a great heritage value and a practical role unignorably. Compared with ancient heritage, the moderns mostly are live heritage with continued functions, which tend to be an overlook of their significances. The constructive interruption and protective disruption took place from time to time. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the understanding, investigation, and conservation of modern heritage.
Modern Lvshun suffered much adversity, starting urban modernization via a forced opening during the leased period by Tsarist Russia (1897-1904) and occupied period by Japan (1905-1945). In the Sino-Soviet jointly built period (1945-1955) and the time before a full opening in 2009, it was under a semi-closed militarization management. Majority of modern buildings built in the colonial times were retained quite completely, avoiding the impacts of the Cultural Revolution and the fast urban expanding due to the military function of Lvshun, which formed the cityscape of unique characteristics. Lvshun Industrial School Site is located in Taiyanggou Block in Lvshun Kou City, referred to as Lvshun. It was built at the end of the Tsarist Russian rent time, experienced the replacements of the authorities and continued to use up to now. It is owned by the army and was named in the municipal protection list, but the current situation was unsatisfactory. As a modern architectural heritage formed in a particular context, its investigation and conservation study is of special significance.
The existing studies on urban architecture in modern Lvshun mainly focus on the urban construction history, blocks conservation, and architectural type features. Lina Zhou [
Lvshun is on the southernmost tip of Liaodong Peninsular with seas surrounded. It possesses a geographical location, with Shandong Peninsular across the sea. At the beginning of Ming Dynasty, the royal government conducted migration in Liaodong region to open up wasteland, open maritime prohibition, and build new towns, during which Lvshun became an important fortress for coastal defense and a trading port. In 1880, the Ching government began to build naval harbor, fort barbettes, and shipyard in Lvshun to construct a military base [
In Ching Guangxu 23 years (1897), Tsarist Russia forcibly occupied Lvshun port, after which they coerced a lease of Lvshun and Dalian via “Convention for the Lease of the Liaotung Peninsula”. Then they started the urban constructions, dreaming of a military port in Lvshun and a commercial port in Dalian [
Now the new town established by Tsarist Russia and improved by Japanese Empire is called Taiyanggou, of which the current layout derives from the initial planning “Port Arthur New Town Planning” 2) (
In response to the orientation of the coast, the planning laid a fundamental grid with a westward rotation of 21 degrees and elected a space axis pointing to the Mount Anzi in the north and West Port in the south, which consists of landmarks, squares, and urban greens. The skeleton roads emanated from nodes of the axis to the surrounding areas symmetrically. Certain points of intersections of the streets grew to become urban squares in polygon or round shapes, connected with new accesses, shaping some secondary space nodes. On the west side of the planning land existed some barracks, whose arrangement enabled the
part of the dominant grid a rotation. On the north, close to the mountain, the land partitions were random in harmony with geography. The planning also retained the two major steams down from the back mountains and turned them into waterscape running through the new town.
At the center of the new town and the southern waterfront, were administrative districts. Residential areas lied in the west and north. In the east was military district due to it was close to the existing military harbor. The core of the new town was a gathering plaza, surrounded by headquarter, court, post office, bank, and other public buildings. At the northern part of the urban axis, planned to build a school to separate the administrative area and the residential area, and an urban park at the southern part. Cultural and entertainment facilities such as the hotel and theatre were set in the coastal areas, as well as some high-level residential blocks for sale. Other level residential blocks were set on the west and north side. On the east and southwest side, the blocks would be for military installations.
Tsarist Russia only completed the primary stage of the new town project then got out of Lvshun. For lacking the experience of modern city construction and saving money, the Japanese adopted the original planning of Russia, which would be an economical and appropriate choice to rehabilitate the city immediately at the beginning of their occupation [
Lüshun Industrial School Site is located at the northern part of the urban axis of Taiyanggou (
In the past 100 years, the building usage has changed several times under the influence of urban revolutions, which could be divided into 3 stages: 1) In colonial era. In 1903, Kuantung Government of Tsarist Russia erected this building for a vocational school (Russian: Реальное училище) sponsored by national finance, schooling 5 years, setting up commerce, reserve and supplement sections to educate the middle and lower level colonial management employees. In 1905, Japanese troops changed it to the chamber of commissioned officer, a subsidiary venue of Kuantung Army Command after they fully occupied Port Arthur [
Lvshun Industrial School Site was listed in the fifth group of Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Units on behalf of “Important Historical Site and Typical Building in Modern Times” in 2003 and the second group of Key Protected Architecture of Dalian in 2004. Despite having been put into legal protection list early, it received few effective protections and reuse in the commercial rent during the last decade, especially before 2008. “In chaotic managements, it was used as clothing factory, school building, restaurant, jade gallery, etc. Many lessees damaged the appearance and interiors for the purposes of their own just like to kill the goose that lays the golden egg” [
The site is vacant after the closure of old cars museum. The survey conducted on July 2015 gives some findings. There was a gap in the west side of the enclosure, from which anyone could easily get access into the yard. The food wastes and traces of picnic found in the grass assured the unattended situation. There was an additional structure in the back yard, apparently illegal. The door of the main building was locked but one could climb into the inside through a broken window on the east facade. In the main building, a wall placed on the west edge of the lobby divided the whole interior into two; the east part was the closed museum for old cars, the west part was rented to the others, which was closed and abandoned either. The improper partitions and deteriorative coatings indicated the destruction of authenticity and integrity inside the building. The yard was thickly forested with Dragon Juniper. In front of the east wing among the Dragon Junipers and locusts, there was a seven-pointed maple, which was rare in Dalian area, growing nicely, over 100 years old by inference. The survey also found some newer tiles and wrappings of pesticide left in the grass, showing that the site was not be abandoned completely and certain person might come to maintain it probably. Anyway, such measures of maintenance could not stop the declining and vandalism.
The ownership and obligation of historical building are often complicated owing to the multiple changes of the managements and utilizations. This situation is more representative in Lvshun. In Taiaynggou Block, 37% of the land with its buildings is military properties. Since the foundation of New China, Lvshun Industrial School Site has always been a possession taken by the military. For lack of effectively integrated system suitable for military and local authorities, Lvshun Industrial School Site is no different to the other historical relics under two management systems in vague identity of whom to be in charge of the conservation. Due to the disjoined relationship between local authority, property owner and lessee, it is hard to ensure the accountabilities for the damage such as the illegal partition and occupancy, feckless maintenance and renovation.
Despite a military port, Lvshun still is a tourist city with a great wealth of tourist resources, notably the historic and cultural landscape on behalf of modern historical relics. In Taiyanggou, there are about 800 historical buildings built in the Russian and Japanese colonial era left until now. Some of them got well preserved and became famous attractions. For instance, Lvshun Museum 3), and Kwantung Army Command Site Museum 4). With the transformation of being an old cars museum, Lvshun Industrial School Site joined the team of tourist spots. To the contrast of the others, it won few popularities. One of the main reasons is that there is no association between automobile culture and urban historical humanity, thus the local community does not identify the museum as one part of their lives, as well as the recognitions of tourists. From the tourism industrial planning point of view, the reuse strategy of the site neglected the foundation of urban culture and consumer phycology of tourists. From the urban development-planning point of view, the strategy is incomplete in the thinking of integrated conservation of the area and the possibility of public participation.
After the full opening of Lvshun from 2009, the urban functions got an improvement. However, due to the urban history, the military domain and the municipal control could not be separated easily. Aiming at an efficient approach to protect the historic buildings possessed by the military in Taiyanggou, Lvshun government developed a creative mode of its management. In 2015, Dalian Taiyanggou Cultural Industrial Development Co., Ltd. was founded. In the same year, Taiyanggou Cultural Industrial Park Management Committee was set to rent the whole building properties in Lvshun those under the jurisdiction of Dalian Real Estate Administration in Shenyang MAC, which produced a “Lvshun Model” for the local authorities to manage the military-possessed heritage [
There are 42 Cultural Relics Protection Units of different levels in Taiyanggou Block. Of these, 5 of National Level, 1 of Provincial Level, 8 of Municipal Level, and 2 of District Level, as well as other 337 historic buildings of general protection in law. It is rich in heritage resources. After taking over the heritage of military properties, Lvshun Government paid high attention to the protection and revitalization of Taiyanggou Block. They established the basic principles and cultural industry orientations for the heritage conservation and reuse [
During the last decade, Taiyanggou Block was not given much advance publicity. Seldom people outside of the city heard of it. It is much necessary to elevate the influence and visibility of the historic block and buildings. Thus, branding is important for the conservation and revitalization, which could bring more supporting policies and funds, as well as the tourism revenue. The similar cases are Xintiandi Block and Tianzi Lane in Shanghai, The Southern Gong and Drum Lane in Beijing, China Lane in Chengdu and so on. All of these historical blocks have become business cards and urban brands of their cities, achieving a balance between protection and exploration. To build the brand of Taiyanggou Block needs not only a historical environment rearrangement in pursuit of an iconic style of its characteristics, but also a planning of cultural and economic activities, such as to hold tourism festivals in themes periodically, or to bring in art workshops and creative agencies to foster the relevant cultural industry. In addition, the well-preserved block form and building features enable Taiyanggou Block a perfect location to make films of modern history theme, from this point of view, to cultivate the film and television production as well as the related services is another approach to extend the publicity of the block and improve its brand impact.
Due to historical reasons, modern Lvshun was a military-related city, born of a military port and subject to military purposes. In Taiyanggou Block, most of the explorations of historic buildings are concerned with military theme of different periods. The corresponding representations demonstrate the urban history and cultural landscape. For Lvshun Industrial School Site, to improve the unsatisfying conditions and make full use of its values, a reevaluation of the reuse and its meanings to the public is of great necessity, especially in the modern view of conservation concept that “to preserve is an approach, the meaning is the goal” [
The modernization of open port city in China is often accompanied with colonization. The modern construction in pursuit of colonial interests objectively accelerated the transformation of urban architecture in modern China. For the geopolitical significance, Lvshun was passively involved in the opening and founding under the guidance of military strategy, and realized the spatial formation via the picture of a modern city painted by the western colonialists. The political and military intentions always dominated the process of urban modernization in Lvshun, shaping a special historical context, and making a significant impact on the urban construction and urban culture.
Lvshun Industrial School Site, an educational building built at the beginning of 20th Century, completed the public service of the city as one fundamental type of modern urban architectures. The architectural layout and features were born of a common style of European Classicism and Eclecticism, mirroring the concept of the colonial construction and the orientation of the cultural value, documenting the dissemination and translation of the culture of the western architecture in modern times. The spatial forms and scales had strong adaptability to meet the different needs of the changing functions. All this built up the value of Lvshun Industrial School Site as modern heritage.
The values of modern heritage, being a material asset and a cultural resource for the urban future, are self-evident. To preserve the heritage of modern time is of the equal importance to the previous era. The case of Taiyanggou Block and Lvshun Industrial School Site indicates that the conservation of modern heritage is full of challenges. They lie in not only how to raise awareness, carry out assessment, explore methods, and implement reuse, but also how to identify them in a dialectical concept of history and value, and to explore an appropriate way of protection and regeneration in a social project integrated with political, economic, and cultural strategies, as well as the local development. Therefore, to identify the physical environment and the social memory of modern heritage would be an essential job to its conservation profession.
Supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China (No. DUT17RW112). The Project of Dalian Academy of Social Sciences (No. 2016dlskyb019).