Conservation of Beijing Central Axis, Sun yan

The conservation of Beijing Central Axis The impact evaluation of contemporary architecture from the perspective of HUL

LU, ZhouSUN, Yan (Speaker)

National Heritage Center, Tsinghua University

NHC THUNATIONAL HERITAGE CENTER . Tsinghua University


Cultural Heritages of Beijing historic center:- 6 world heritage sites 2 sites in the old city centre- 43 conservation districts 33 districts in the old city centre- around 100 national cultural relics


The main concerns on heritage conservation of Beijing1. How to build up an inter-related heritage system based on these

individual monuments, sites and districts?

2. How to assess the integrity of the attributes? 3. How to evaluate the impact of contemporary architecture?

The HUL approach can help us to

Understand the values of BCA in a more wider perspectiveBuild up a more comprehensive heritage system

Evaluate the new construction on BCA integrity from a dynamic view of city development


The case of Beijing central axis

The old city of Beijing was first built during the Yuan Dynasty (mid-13th Century), and further developed and perfected during the Ming and Qing Dynasties (14th Century to early 20th Century). With eight hundred years of urban development, it is now the largest imperial capital city in China and Beijing Central Axis was always its core spatial pattern and the best preserved area.

Beijing Central Axis, extending 7.8 km from south to north of old Beijing city, is an urban landscape complex exemplified by its meticulously planned spatial organization. It can be seen as the most typical, most complete example of an ideal city plan stated in 'Zhouli Kaogong ji' (Records of Craftsmenship of rituals in Zhou dynasty), representing the Chinese philosophy of 'harmony between man and nature'.

Beijing Central Axis also serves as an epitome that controls the development of Beijing city over the long-term. Even in nowadays' urban development, it has still received full respect.

Bell tower

Drum tower

Jing Mountain

Forbidden city

The alter of land and grain

The temple of ancestor

Zheng'yang Gate

Temple of agriculture

Temple of heaven

Six Lakes District

The area of Beijing Old city

The Central Axis of Beijing


The city plan of Rome

The case of Beijing central axis

Not a real roadCentral Axis =Control line

1. The understanding of HUL and its applicationin Beijing Central Axis


In the UNESCO Recommendation on Historic Urban Landscape (2011), the concept of HUL was stressed as "a landscape approach for identifying, conserving and managing historic areas within the broader urban contexts". HUL also suggests an integrated approach of civic engagement, knowledge and planning, regulatory system, finance.

As we understand “urban historic areas as the result of long term- and still ongoing - dynamics and conceives of change - social, economic and physical”, the HUL approach “stresses the link between physical form and social evolution, defining historic cities as a system integrating natural and man-made elements, in an historical continuum, representing a layering of expressions throughout history” (F. Bandarin and R. van Oers, 2012).

Thus HUL approach gives us a new view to understand and conserve the values of historic cities, it emphasizes:1) the spatial system of urban heritage, which means the inter-relationships among physical forms, the spatial organization, land-use pattern, natural features and settings are more important than one single monument;2) the historic layering of diverse values and attributes of the evolving urban development;3) the inter-action between the urban place and the local community, with their long-term social, cultural, economic values and activities.


• The values of Beijing central axis should be considered from its regional geography and the

chinese traditional urban planning philosophy;Values

Property Identification

Urban Conservation

• Beijing central axis is not a group of buildings, but a complex ensemble of the urban patterns, lake system, public infrastructures, cultural p l a c e s w i t h c l o s e i n t e r-relationship of the topography and hydraulic features;

• Beijing central axis not only emphasizes the ancient elements, but also stresses all attributes of its successive evolving processes;

• The conservation should not be limited to the physical forms of urban heritage, but emphasize：• the relationships between built heritage and the surrounding environment；• the visual connections;• the long-term land use pattern and the sustaining of cultural places.

The application of HUL in the case of Beijing central axis

2. The values of Beijing Central Axis


The values of Beijing Central Axis

1-A long tradition of Respecting the 'Center' Place

In traditional Chinese culture and political systems, ideas like 'Regarding Center as [Place] for Respect (yizhongweizun)' took a prominent position. Chinese emperors considered themselves as the descendent of heaven, their capital city had to be the very center of the world.

The location of Beijing just reflected this ideal central axis of China: it was at the "center of the earth" in the axis composed by the great mountains in the east area of China. Beijing central axis was the miniature of this ideal relationship which revealed the traditional concept of the harmony between heaven (god’s world) and an human being’s world.

The ideal Central Axis of China—Ming dynasty, first proposed by Zhu xi

In Song dynasty (14th century), the great philosopher 'Zhu Xi' proposed a central axis of China which came across the east part of the country. The axis started from 'Tian shou' Mountain in the north and ended at the mountains in south east area.

'Kun lun' Mountain

'Tian shou' Mountain

Beijing

'Tai shan' Mountain

Mountain in South-east areas

Mountain in 'Huai nan' areas

River


2－A Reflection of the ideal city model of capital

In traditional urban planning practices, there are two most influential theories. One is the ideal capital city model written in the chapters of ‘Jiang’ren ying’guo (Craftsmen Constructing the State)’ in ‘Zhou’li Kao’gong Ji’ (Records of Craftsmen of Zhou Rituals) during the Spring and Autumn Period.

The ideal capital city model of China："When building a state capital, (the crafts) creates a square (city) of nine li (length dimension) on each side with three gates on every edge.

In the city, there are nine north-south avenues and nine east-west streets. The avenues are nine carriage tracks wide.

On the left (east side of city) is the ancestral temple and to the right (west side) is the altar of land and grain.

In the front (south of city)is the court palace and the behind(north of city) is the market."

The ideal city in "zhouli kaogongji"

'Zhouli Kaogong ji' is the records of Craftsmenships rules and rituals in Zhou dynasty (around BC 8th century-BC 5th century).In the chapters of "Jiangren yingguo (about Craftsmen Constructing the State)", itillustrated an ideal capitalcity for ancient Chinese emperors.

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The city planning of Beijing is one of the best example following chinese ideal capital model in "Zhou'li Kao'gong'ji" while Beijing central axis is the most representative and well preserved urban pattern.

The main heritage elements of Beijing Cenntral Axisfollowing the ideal city model in "Zhou'li Kao'gong'ji"

'Yong'ding' Gate

Temple of HeavenTemple of Agriculture

Forbidden city

The temple of ancesters

The market area


Beijing Old cityThe image of Beijing in Qing dynasty

2－A Reflection of the ideal city model of capital


The values of Beijing Central Axis

Beijing Central Axis is a representative miniature of the idea "being in the center of the world", which was close related to the whole territorial planning, revealing the ancient Chinese philosophy.

Beijing Central Axis is a historic and architectural complex exemplified by its meticulously planned location, intact spatial layout, unique land use and characteristic. A perfect synthesis where one can observe the visual, functional, morphological and cultural relationship. Beijing Central Axis shows the systematic and creativity of urban planning concept in ancient China: the ideal capital model proposed by ‘Zhou’li Kao’gong Ji’ in Zhou dynasty, the principles of ‘Guan Zi’ in the Spring and Autumn period and etc.

Beijing Central Axis serves as an epitome of China's planning of a capital city that has been evolved over thousands of years, where the highest level of artistic achievement in the design and construction of a capital city during Ming-Qing period is still evident today.

3. The integrity of Beijing Central Axis attributes


1. the spatial system of urban heritage:• site’s topography, geomorphology, hydrology and natural features; • important public infrastructures;• open spaces;• visual relationships...

HUL approach emphasizes the conservation of three aspects of urban heritage

2. the time-depth of urban heritage:• the driving forces in different development process • historic and contemporary built environment

3. the inter-action between the place and community:• land use patterns;• social and cultural practices • the associated intangible heritages

The integrity of Beijing Central Axis

1. An integrated urban spatial system:• topography and hydrology features; • urban patterns; • public infrastructures;• well preserved historic buildings;• visual relationships;

2.The intact historic layers of urban development:evolution from Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, to the Republic of China and People's Republic of China；

3. The long-term sustaining land-use and culture places: • typical land use areas revealing Beijing traditional urban life;• representative cultural places• the relationship with important historical events


1－The spatial system of Beijing central axis

The close relationship between the built heritage and the topography and hydrology features of Beijing:-the mountains in the north-west;-Wen'yu river in the north-east and the Yong'ding river in the south-west area of the city;-the 'six lakes' areas with its natural characters;

The hydrology system of Beijing

Yong'ding River

Wen'yu River

North moatSix lakes area

South moat

Mountains in the north-

The topography and hydrology features of Beijing


The importance of topography and hydrology features in the urban landscape of Beijing central axis


The urban pattern and public infrastructuresBell tower

Drum tower

Jing Mountain

Forbidden city


The temple of ancestor

Tian'an'men square

Zheng'yang Gate

Temple of agricultureTemple of heaven

Yong'ding Gate


The urban pattern and public infrastructures of Beijing Central Axis constitute the most remarkable morphological character in Beijing old city. It coordinates and orders the relations among the imperial places, altars, markets, streets, and even the Tian’an’men square architectural complex.

City Gate(Disappearing)

Main street


The different character of public infrastructures in Beijing Central Axis


The important visual relationships：-the aerial view-the pedestrian view

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2

3

4

5

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7

8

1 2 2

3 5 7



2- The historic layers of urban development

Yuan Dynasty1272-1368

Ming Dynastyafter 1553

Qing Dynasty1636－1911

Center of the city

The formation of Beijing Central axisMoving the city area to the south of 'Da'du'

Extending the central axis to the south

Respect the urban pattern of MingMaintain and rebuilt the important buildings

The location of the center of the cityThe formation of the north section of

Beijing Central axis

The regeneration of Zheng'yang Gate areaThe design of Tian'an'men Square

Recent Development1911-today


3- Traditional land use and culture places

Four urban landscape areas with traditional land uses:(South to north)1)The place of worship outside Forbidden City, fromYongding Gate in the south to Zhengyang Gate;2) The modern political center, Zhengyang Gate to Tian'anmen Square; 3) The imperial "Halls and Palaces", from Forbidden city to Jing Mountain, and three lakes in the south 4) The "Market" and residential area - Drum Tower, Bell Tower, Nan'luo'gu lane, Inclining Yan'dai street, and the lakes.

The four areas make up a representative picture scroll of Beijing Urban 'Landscape', presenting the vicissitudes about the city and people.

1

2

3

4


Four areas with different urban landscape characters: from Yong'ding Gate to the north

6 Beijing Central Axis Urban Landscape

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From Zheng'yang Gate to Tian'an'men Square




The imperial "Halls and Palaces"




The "Market" and residential area: A typical image of civil life in Old Beijing

362- Central Axis of Beijing

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The proposed nominated property and buffer zone

The zone of nominated property includes the overall urban pattern, the important public infrastructures, the six lakes areas, and the well preserved historic streets and constructions. The zone also covers all the main elements of its historic processes from Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties to the Republic of China and People's Republic of China.

The buffer zone is consisted by the existing buffer zone of the Forbidden City and the temple of heaven, which will control the development in wider city area, preserving the visual relations of the system.

Total conservation area (property+buffer zone): 5143.44 ha

4. A Critical Review of Contemporary Architectures on BCA

3 Cases1960s-1970s, Tian'an'men square and the surrounding political buildings

1998, the Opera House of Beijing2005, the rebuilt of Yong'Ding Gate


The approved urban conservation regulations on Beijing historic center

Old city centerConservation plan for the historic city

of Beijing,2002

The hydrology features of Beijing historic cityThe visual relationships (no high buildings)The building height control requirement

Conservation areas

Conservation planning of historic areas in Beijing old city, 2001

Conservation plan for the imperial city of Beijing, 2004

The preservation of existing urban patterns(road system)The six types of maintenance and regeneration strategies of different buildings

Cultural relicsThe management regulations on the

cultural relics areas, 2007

Conservation areas Built control areas(The height control+building density control)

Picturesque imageUnified building form

The height control+building density control+land use adjustment


The visual relationships of Beijing historic city---from 'Conservation plan for the historic city of Beijing'

The height control of the areas outside of conservation areas in Beijing old city area

12m18m24m30m


Cultural relics conservation: the control requirements on conservation areas and built control areas

Conservation areas: the requirement of the ‘law for the preservation of cultural relics’；Built control areas: five typesType 1: no construction area;Type II: one floor high area, height<3.3m, density<40%;Type III: height<9m, density<35%;Type IV: height<18m;Type V: specific built control areas.

The conservation areas and built control areas of Beijing Imperial City

National cultural relics

Built control areas type IBuilt control areas type IIBuilt control areas type IIIBuilt control areas type IVBuilt control areas type V

1960s-1970s, Tian'an'men square and the surrounding political buildings1998, the Opera House of Beijing

2005, the rebuilt of Yong'Ding Gate


Tian' an' men

Monument to the People‘s Heroes

Chairman Mao Memorial Hall

Zheng' Yang Gate

Great Hall of the People

History Museum

The transformation of Tian' an' men Square

1952-54 The dismantlement of East and West Chang' An GateThe dismantlement of the red walls, the expansion of south square

1959 The target of building the largest plaza in the worldThe dismantlement of the Chinese GateThe construction of the Great Hall of the People, the History Museum and the Monument to the People's Heroes

1914 The dismantlement of Qian' Bu Corridor

1976 The construction of Chairman Mao Memorial Hall


Tian' an' men square before 1915 with the Qian' Bu Corridor Tian' an' men square in 1915 with the red walls of Imperial City

The location of Great Hall of the People before its construction The Zhong Hua Gate and the Monument to the People's Heroes


The Tian' An' Men Square of Today

๏ The historic urban context ๏ The traditional building heights✓ The Ideology of Beijing Central Axis✓ Land-use/ Symmetrical building form

1960s-1970s, Tian'an'men square and the surrounding political buildings

1998, the Opera House of Beijing2005, the rebuilt of Yong'Ding Gate


The fierce debate on the plan of National Opera House

The location of National Opera House

In 2000, a report criticizing the design of National Opera House from 49 academicians and 108 experts made this event become the headlines of media and induced a fierce and long-term debate. The criticize mainly focused on the following aspects: the cost much beyond the budget; the security issue caused by the irrational design; and the disorder brought by the too avant-garde design in historic context. In order to evaluate the result of this event, we need to comprehend the whole process of decision making.


The process of National Opera House design competition

1958 The location(to the west of Great Hall of the People) was chosen by the central authority. However, because of the political and economical reasons, the project did not carry out at that time. The area was remained as traditional residential buildings.

1998 The NOH project was proposed again CPPCC and was passed through by the state council.

The international competition on architecture design invited public biding and the design of Paul Andren was chosen after two selections.

Land area: 118,900 sq meterTotal construction area: 149,500 sq meterInvestment budget: 2688,000,000RMB (336 million Euro)

2000 The criticizes from academicians and the wide debate of experts and public

2001 A series of expert meetings in 2001 urged Andren modify his plan, reducing the investment budget, solving the emergency problems and etc.

The final project was officially approved by the central authority and experts, the construction work was started at the end of 2001.

2007 The completion of New National Opera House


The architecture designs of National Opera House, Beijing

The design from Tsinghua University The first and second design from Terre Farell & Partners (UK)

The selected design of Paul Andren

The requirements of urban planning on NOH

In 1998, the conservation plan for the historic city of Beijing was not drawn up, the new construction mainly controlled by the master plan of Beijing. This document only defined the land use of the site (for public infrastructure) and the max height (less than 30m). In this case, all these requirements were followed by the architectural designs.


The perspective from Mountain Jing before (left) and after (below) the construction of National Opera House

✓ The building height/ Building density✓ Land-use function๏ Visual integrity๏ The urban pattern (morphology scale) ๏ Local identity๏ The environmental micro-climate (glazing materiel)

1960s-1970s, Tian'an'men square and the surrounding political buildings1998, the Opera House of Beijing

2005, the rebuilt of Yong'Ding Gate


The History and Rebuilt of Yong' Ding Gate

1564The expansion of Beijing Inner City from 1553 and the construction of Yong' Ding Gate in 1564

Yong' Ding Gate: The beginning of BCA

1950-1957The dismantlement for the development of transportation

2004The Rebuilt of Yong' Ding Gate and the plaza as the beginning point of BCA

22,000 sqm.3 football stadium

A hanging garden over the 2nd ring road of Beijing



✓ Rebuilt the Cultural Icon of the city✓ More public greenery

๏ Not Authentic๏ Not human-comfort morphology scale๏ Not respect the need of local community๏ No close inter-action with community๏ Huge expenditure for routine maintenance

5. Conclusions and further improvement


The omission of existing urban planning strategies

If comparing the existing urban planning strategies with the HUL approaches applied in Beijing Central Axis, it could be noticed that we need more solid urban conservation strategies on spatial planning, the natural features, urban pattern and the visual relationships.

Today's measures still focus on the physical heritage, to some extent we ignore:- connections of different properties or areas;- more various aspect of components for the place characters; - and the inter-action between physical heritage and people.

The HUL approach provides us a wider and more inter-related perspective to consider the values and heritage attributes of Beijing central axis. With the view of HUL, a new frame of time and space to identify the heritage attributes can be built, and a significant heritage system of Beijing Central Axis could be established which will link the existing national, administrative cultural and natural heritage of Beijing.


The omission of existing urban planning strategies

For the existing urban conservation planning system of Beijing Central Axis, the following aspects need to be improved: 1. The change of height control requirements in the buffer zone for the preservation of visual relationships2. More guidances on preserving the space characters and feeling by urban designs-the continuity or variation of spaces in the axis-the relations of cultural places with traditional land use or intangible heritage3. More places open for the public in order to create more opportunities for public participation


The evaluation criteria of contemporary architecture project

Objective criteria ✓The building height control requirement✓The building density of the site✓Traditional land-use/ Function

Subjective criteria๏The various aspects of historic/ cultural character of the site๏ (urban pattern/building material/ scale/ techniques/ pedestrian feelings[Eco]...)๏Visual integrity on spatial dimension๏The social benefit of the project for the community


ConclusionThinking on HUL approach from the Chinese practices

Since the publication of UNESCO Recommendation on HUL in 2011, this concept and approach have aroused a wide discussion in the field of heritage conservation and urban planning. In the meetings about this theme last year, a common consensus on HUL still needs further debate. Some experts believe that the 30-years practice of historic and cultural city (and village) conservation in China shares some similar principles with HUL approach: both try to quest an integrated conservation approach for historic cities. And some of the new ideas emphasized by HUL approach, such as the importance of land use, visual relationships and etc. have already been noticed in urban planning strategies of China, though lack of specific management strategies or tools. Therefore, the creativity of HUL approach and its effectiveness in Chinese context still need to test in practices.


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Conservation of Beijing Central Axis, Sun yan

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