Chongqing Design Studio

Learning through International Partnerships + Connections+

Chongqing Unversity, China + University of Minnesota, USA

+

Chongqing Design Studio

STUDIO PARTICIPANTS

Faculty

Arthur Chen, Ph.D, Associate ProfessorDirector of World Heritage StudiesCollege of Design, University of Minnesota

Bo Yan, Ph.D, Associate ProfessorCollege of Architecture & Urban Planning Chongqing University

Ling Huang, Ph.D, Associate ProfessorCollege of Architecture & Urban Planning Chongqing University

Zeng Wei, ProfessorCollege of Architecture & Urban Planning Chongqing University Students

University of Minnesota, College of Design, Architecture

Jessica AndrejaschRobert HollyJuilan F. LemonAngela TaffeChristopher Wingate

University of Chongqing, College of Architecture & Urban Planning Chen, XuemeiChen, Huang GuoLi, FenLi, XiangLou, YanhongWu, HaoWu, YueXu, Xue JiaoZhang, Yu Ming

CONTRIBUTORS

Renee Cheng, AIA, Professor of ArchitectureHead of School of ArchitectureCollege of Design, University of Minnesota

Ignacio San Martin, Professor of ArchitectureDayton Hudson Chair of Urban Design Director of Metropolitan Design CenterCollege of Design, University of Minnesota

Photo + Graphic Editors

Angela Taffe, M. Arch College of Design, University of Minnesota

Christopher Wingate, M. Arch College of Design, University of Minnesota

Photo Credits

All photos by Christopher Wingate unless noted below:

Photos on page 12 and 18 by Bo YanPhoto on page 22 bottom by Julian F. LemonPhotos on page 52 bottom and page 67 by Angela TaffePhoto on page 59 by Li, FenPhotos on page 63 by Zhang, Yu Ming

Printed in October, 2013 by Metropolitan Design Center College of Design, University of Minnesota

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CONTENTS

FORWARD .....................................................................................................................................................................................11Renee Cheng, Head of the School of Architecture, College of Design, University of Minnesota

INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................................................................13Arthur Chen, Associate Professor, Director of World Heritage Studies, University of Minnesota

TRAVEL ...........................................................................................................................................................................................16University of Minnesota student travels; Chongqing, Chengdu, Shanghai, Suzhou

COLLABORATION ...................................................................................................................................................................56University of Minnesota + Chongqing University Students collaborative work in city of Chongqing; charette of industrial steel mill and ancient town Ciqikou

STUDENT WORK .................................................................................................................................................................... 68

A Relic Reborn: The Redevelopment of Chongqings Steel Mill..............................................................................................70Chen Huang Guo, Xu Xue Jiao, Li Xiang (University of Chongqing)

Symbiosis: Adapting Industrial Infrastructure into an Industrial History Museum...............................................................80Li Fen, Zhang Yu Ming, Wu Yue (University of Chongqing)

The Steel Dragon: From Blast Furnace to Cinema Center in Rapidly Urbanizing China....................................................90Christopher Wingate (University of Minnesota)

The Art of Collision: Chongqing South Railway Station...........................................................................................................104Robert Holley (University of Minnesota)

Terraced Connection: Encouraging Public Life and Stablizing the Landscape......................................................................118Jessica Andrejasich (Unversity of Minnesota)

Awake: The Revitalization of the Ancient town Ciqikou...........................................................................................................132Lou Yanhong, Wu Hao, Chen Xuemei (Unversity of Chongqing)

Old Town, New City: a Trade School for Building Conservation............................................................................................140Julian F. Lemon (University of Minnesota)

The Porcelain Mouth: Reclaiming the Ancient Harbor of Chongqing...................................................................................154Angela Taffe (University of Minnesota)

9

FORWARD

The distance between Minneapolis and Chongqing is 7,140 miles or 11, 490 kilometers, which is about

as far away apart as two cities can be on this planet. Physically bridging this distance is possible by using

modern transportation such as planes, trains and automobiles, but bridging the cultural distance is only

achievable through the people who make the journey. University of Minnesota China Design Fellows

did not travel to China as tourists but undertook their trip maintaining their identity as architecture

students. They worked on projects, testing programs and sites with Chinese peers from Chongqing

University while also learning many intangible aspects about the places and people they met.

The results of this exchange are documented in this publication which describes the experiences of

our students, their sources of inspiration and their completed final projects. We hope that reading this

book brings viewers insight to the broad range of issues that American students face when working in

a foreign country and illuminates both the similarities and differences between cultures of building and

uses of environments in the US and China.

The University of Minnesota is celebrating 100 years since the first students from China came to study

in our institution. The School of Architecture was one of the first program to take American students

to China in 1981. Recently, the School has established (or reestablished) ties with several Chinese

programs, seeking to create opportunities that will benefit all our faculty, students and institutions. This

work has been made possible with the generous support of the Metropolitan Design Center in the

College of Design, ESG Architects and the Burton Visnick and Long Xin Rong Visnick Travel Fellowship.

Renee Cheng, AIA, Professor

Head of the School of ArchitectureUniversity of Minnesota

College of Design

11

Yangtze River

PACIFIC OCEAN

CHONGQING

BEIJING

SHANGHAI

HONG KONG

CHENGDUSUZHOU

12

INTRODUCTION

This collection of projects and travel logs comes from a study tour to China for an International Design Workshop at Chongqing University and subsequent studio works to develop project proposals at each university during the spring semester of 2013. The International Workshop took place at the end of December of 2012, which was the first joined design workshop of two universities located in twelve hours time zones apart.

While students from Minneapolis were making their first trip to China, the group itinerary to Chongqing became time travel through the history of Chinese Architecture, which included notable places such as the Bund and Xintiandi in Shanghai, ancient villages and districts in Chengdu, Classical Gardens in Suzhou. The changing historic urban landscapes of Chinese cities have inspired firsthand concerns for urban fabric and public spaces. Travel experiences help to bridge the learning gap between experiences and knowledge of the city.

The Workshop selected two riverfront sites, Ciqikou and former Chongqing Steel Mill in Chongqing , for speculating urban proposals for new Chongqings urban revitalization. The name Ciqikou, literally Porcelain Port, can be traced back to porcelain production during the Ming Dynasties. Formerly an ancient entry port to Chongqing and a busy port located at the lower reaches of the Jialing River, a thousand years after its foundation the port town remains a symbol of collective memory of old Chongqing. The former Chongqing Steel Mill has occupied a riverfront prescient of 7,600 acres by the Yangtze River at the city center since 1938 and recently been cleaned up by the Chongqing Municipality while developing phases of economic projects of urban housing and public facilities. Both sites epitomize cultural and industrial heritage in the transfiguration of making new Chongqings urban fabric.

The participants of the Workshop consist of faculty and students of the School of Architecture of the University of Minnesota and the Department of Architecture of the University of Chongqing. Students of both universities were divided into three mixed design teams and had to exchange their viewpoints and working processes of addressing design concerns. After ten days of intensive work, the final presentation of teamworks illuminated three important issues for further design development. First, the need for a new transportation hub to connect buses, trains, light-rail trains, cable carts, boats, and ferries at the old Chongqing Steel Mill. Both sites need to accommodate new civic and cultural facilities to facilitate new urban leisure life. Moreover, the dramatic variations in topography of sites can be utilized for weaving new urban fabric, geometry and connections.

Each participant has appropriated the results of Workshop as programming components to develop a semester-long studio work in spring 2013. For students from Minneapolis, the souvenir of the sojourn in Chongqing being full of images of an emerging modern metropolitan city of more than 30 million people and fresh understanding of rapid urbanization in Chinese cities, they continued to quest for the aspirations of design interventions in making their Final Projects in graduate study.

Arthur Chen, Ph.D, Associate Professor

Director of World Heritage StudiesUniversity of Minnesota

College of Design

We would like to thank all the people that made it possible for us to travel to China. This study abroad program continues the University of Minnesotas long-standing relationship with students and faculty from China. Nearly 100 years after the first students from China traveled to the University of Minnesota to study, we are proud to be counted among a large group of students whose lives have been shaped by international study abroad experiences.

We were the first student group to visit Chongqing University and we give our deepest thanks to the students and faculty who hosted us, worked with us, and ultimately befriended us. Our time was short but the value of the education we received and the friendships we forged will last a lifetime.

We would like to personally thank the donors who financially supported the program. Your funding and belief in the educational value of study abroad programs is what makes experiences like this possible.

This program was also made possible by the vision and support of Renee Cheng, Head of the Architecture School; Tom Fischer, Dean of the College of Design; and the administrative staff. Thank you all for working tirelessly to bring these influential study abroad opportunities to your students.

Finally, we would like to thank Arthur Chen for guiding us through China and showing us authentic Chinese culture. And a special thank you to Ignacio San Martin, from the Metropolitan Design Center, for his generous support in the publication of this book.

-Jess, Rob, Julian, Chris and Angie

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Minneapolis, MN

Shanghai, CHINA

CHENGDU

CHONGQING

SUZHOU

SHANGHAI

TRAVEL

CHONGQING CHENGDU SUZHOU

16

Minneapolis, MN

Shanghai, CHINA

CHENGDU

CHONGQING

SUZHOU

SHANGHAI

SHANGHAI

36 hours of airplane travel covering 7,140 miles brought five University of Minnesota Master of Architecture students and one professor to Chongqing China on December 17th, 2012. Over the next two and a half weeks we would explore rapidly urbanizing Chongqing, a city of 29 million, with fellow students and faculty from Chongqing University; travel to UNESCO World Heritage sites in Chengdu; witness the sublime beauty of traditional Chinese gardens in Suzhou; and experience the buzzing financial center of Shanghai. We returned to Minneapolis on January 2nd to unpack this incredible experience and use it to fuel our Master of Architecture final projects sited in Chongqing. Please join us on a recap of our journey.

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Chongqing, China

29 33 30 N, 106 34 0E

nickname the fog city

established316 BC

population28,846,170

area31,816 sq mi

elevation778 ft

climatehumid sub-tropical

19 districts 15 counties 4 autonomous counties

first major city in southwest China

major transportation center of the upstream Yangtze Basinmanufacturing hub

Chinas fastest growing city with a current urbanization rate of 55%

DECEMBER JANUARY17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 29 30 31 125 26 27 28

CHONGQING CHENGDU SUZHOU SHANGHAI

DECEMBER JANUARY17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 29 30 31 125 26 27 28 2

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Yangtze River

PACIFIC OCEAN

CHONGQING

BEIJING

SHANGHAI

HONG KONG

CHENGDUSUZHOU

19

Jia

ling River

Yangtz e River

CHONGQING UNIVERSITY

CIQIKOU, ANCIENT TOWN SITE

CHONGQING IRON + STEEL GROUP SITE

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

CHONGQING

0 .5 1 2mi.

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Size, Speed, Scale The first thing you notice when visiting Chongqing is the rate at which they are building - high-rise housing developments, shopping malls, schools, bridges, arenas - are being constructed at a record pace. Towers and construction cranes dominate the skyline as the city transforms the built environment to respond to Chinas rapid urbanization. Currently, 51% of Chinese citizens live in urban areas. Over the next few decades, the Chinese government projects that this number will increase to 80%. The result is a built environment that is a study of juxtaposition - ancient temples and market towns surrounded by extensive skyscrapers and modern infrastructure.

What becomes problematic for Chongqing and all other growing cities in China is the threat rapid urbanization poses to the historic landscape. Culturally rich portions of the city are being bulldozed in the name of progress as Chongqing is forced to decide between preserving its past and building for its future.

Pockets of ancient towns like Ciqikou (bottom left) are being protected to maintain their unique history, culture, and economic value. A main focus of our studies was the juxtaposition of progress and history in these rapidly urbanizing environments.

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Street Life When Jane Jacobs wrote that The street is the scene of a sidewalk ballet, she must have foreseen Chongqing. Here, population density combined with a cultural proclivity for public space creates an active urban street condition that is part transportation, part gathering space, and part market place. Under the canopy of high rises and against the flow of traffic, one can buy almost any good or service imaginable on Chongqings sidewalks.

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Rubble and RedevelopmentThe only feature in the landscape more common than the construction cranes are the huge piles of rubble that precede them on the front lines of redevelopment. This can be seen in the Chongqing Steel Mill (below) which has been almost completely demolished to pave the way for new development. We focused on sites like these to explore the boundary between urban growth, progress, and the preservation of cultural history.

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Chengdu, China

30 39 31 N, 104 03 53 E

nickname The Hibiscus City

established311 BC


area4,684 sq mi

elevation1,600 ft


9 districts 6 counties4 autonomous counties

famous for hot pot, kungpao chicken, mapo tofu

home to 80% of the worlds giant panda population living in the wild

integral to Chinas cultural history with UNESCO world hertiage sites that pay homage to important literary figures

30




Yangtze River

PACIFIC OCEAN

CHENGDU

BEIJING

SHANGHAI

HONG KONG

CHONGQING

SUZHOU

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DAZU ROCK CARVINGS

DU FU ACADEMY CHENGDU

CHONGQING

CHONGQINGUNIVERSITY

CHONGQING MUNICIPALITY

SICHUANMUNICIPALITY

HUANGLONGXI ANCIENT TOWN

GUIZHOUMUNICIPALITY 0 10 20 40 60mi.

Yangtze R

iver

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Giant Buddhas, Poets, PandasThe journey from Chongqing to Chengdu is an adventure through the mountains. It takes about six hours by car and follows a path that is by no means flat. Lush green mountain tops, small rural villages, narrow and steep curving roads lead you to places like the Dazu Rock Carvings (previous page and below right) and traditional towns nestled into the terrain. The Giant Panda is supported in this habitat and is protected through nature sanctuaries - an important symbol of this region.

Driving through this landscape and seeing the undeveloped beauty around these sprawling mega cities brings to light the juxtaposition of Chinas hyper urbanized and rural landscapes. Remnants of the ancient still remain, such as Du Fus Thatched Cottage (above left, below left, above right). This UNESCO World Heritage site commemorates the home and studio of Chinas most famous poet.

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Hard Rock The Dazu Rock Carvings are perhaps the most well known of world heritage sites in this region (below). The scale and splendor of these carved statues are breathtaking. So too is the sites history - the statues depict a belief system resulting from a harmonious synthesis of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

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Suzhou, China

31 18 0 N, 104 03 0 E

nickname Venice of the East

established514 BC


area3,277 sq mi

elevation13 ft


10 districts

the classic chinese garden was born and perserved here as UNESCO world heritage sites

Suzhou was created with series of canals to navigate the city- located near large bodies of inland water - these canals are still used today

along with Suzhous preserved history, the city has become the nations highest hi-tech industrial zone in China, with a net worth of $13 billion




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Yangtze River

PACIFIC OCEAN

SUZHOU

BEIJING

CHENGDU

HONG KONG

CHONGQING

SHANGHAI

39

Waicheng Riv er

Jingh

ang

Cana

lHUMBLE ADMINSTRATORS GARDEN

SUZHOU

HUQIU TOWER

LIONS GATELINGERING GARDEN

MASTER OF NETS GARDEN

COUPLES RETREAT GARDEN THE OLD CITY

Waicheng Rive r

Jingh

ang

Cana

lHUMBLE ADMINSTRATORS GARDEN

SUZHOU

HUQIU TOWER

LIONS GATELINGERING GARDEN

MASTER OF NETS GARDEN

COUPLES RETREAT GARDEN

THE OLD CITY

0 .5 1mi.

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Sublime Beauty Nestled in the historic city of Suzhou are the finest examples of traditional Chinese gardens in the world. To walk through them in person is to experience sublime beauty. Based on the geometry of meandering, Chinese gardens are meant to stroll through, never quite knowing where you are, but being presented with a series of picturesque views. The same central water feature can be glimpsed from its banks, through a hidden cave, framed by a pavilion, or over a tiled roof and it will be almost unrecognizable each time.

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Tur, accum escim repudam sequi conseni hilibusandia suntum alissed ut quam int pro con nihil magnim doloratiusam quam fugia quassimodita cusdaeris que dolupta deri corat labo. Elestiatur, cus nim dolorrumque simusda volorum quate de posti dolupient.Ugia sequundest experia num quo eumque rest abora ilignis aria nus dentus nes que vollore heneturibus erspeles nusae modio inume poresedit,

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Historic Core, Modern Fringe The peaceful Chinese gardens in the historic city center of Suzhou have been encircled by new development in the rapidly urbanizing city. Economic growth is fueled by an electronics industry that rivals Silicon Valley. Viewed from the top of a pagoda, the scale of development becomes clear as historic fabric gives way to skyscrapers in the distance.

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Shanghai, China

31 18 0 N, 104 03 0 E

nickname The Great Athens of China

established751 BC


area2,448 sq mi

elevation13 ft


16 districts 1 county210 towns

the largest city by population in China

first trading route through China for foreign trade that connected the east to the west

the financial hub of the Asia Pacific region since it was first colonized after the 1842 Opium War until the Communist Party take over in 1949




48

Yangtze River

PACIFIC OCEAN

SHANGHAI

BEIJING

CHENGDU

HONG KONG

CHONGQING

SUZHOU




49

Shanghai, China

50

0 .75 1mi.

PUDONG CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICTTHE BUND

Yangtze R iver

EAST CHINA SEA

XIANTANDI

PEOPLES PARK

PEARL TOWER

PEACE HOTEL

Huangpu River

Wusong River PUDONG

SHANGHAI


Yangtze River

EAST CHINA SEA

XIANTANDI

PEOPLES PARK

PEARL TOWER

PEACE HOTEL

Huangpu River

Wusong Rive

rPUDONG

SHANGHAI

THE BUND


Yangtze River

EAST CHINA SEA

XIANTANDI

PEOPLES PARK

PEARL TOWER

PEACE HOTEL

Huangpu River

Wusong Rive

rPUDONG

SHANGHAI

THE BUND

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A History of TradeShanghais history can be read in its urban environment. Shanghai was the first port city opened to foreign trade following the British victory over China in the First Opium War. The city then flourished under European influence as a center of trade between east and west, establishing Shanghai as the financial hub of the Asia Pacific region. After fading from the worlds stage in 1950, it has now re-emerged under new economic reforms as a global city highly influential in commerce, finance, media, fashion, and technology.

The European influence can be clearly read in the built environment of the Bund (p 46, 52) where richly detailed brick and stone facades in the Beaux Arts style adorn banks and hotels, creating a street frontage that would look at home in London.

Other historic areas like the Yuan Gardens (direct left) have been re-imagined as major tourist destinations.

Surrounding the citys landmarks is the reality of an urban infrastructure that must support the worlds largest city (bottom left).

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CHRIS, SHOULD WE PUT YOUR PICTURE OF THE RIVER SHOWING THE BUND AND PUDONG AT ONCE ?! I THINK YOU HAD AN IMAGE OF THAT.... MIGHT WORK BETTER WITH TEXT

54

CHRIS, SHOULD WE PUT YOUR PICTURE OF THE RIVER SHOWING THE BUND AND PUDONG AT ONCE ?! I THINK YOU HAD AN IMAGE OF THAT.... MIGHT WORK BETTER WITH TEXT

A Tale of Two Shores Originally a British settlement north of the old walled city of Shanghai, the Bund (below) became the financial headquarters of China by the 1940s. Today it is one of the citys most popular tourist destinations and one of the most successful public spaces in China. The redeveloped riverfront sits between Beaux Arts buildings built in the first half of the 20th century (below) and the hyper modern skyline of Pudong (above) across the Huangpu River. This juxtaposition is no accident as the riverfront redirects views from the citys past to its shining symbols of Chinese progress across the river.

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COLLABORATION

The cornerstone of the Chongqing Design Studio was collaborating with students and faculty from Chongqing University. For eight days, ten Chinese students were our gracious hosts, tour guides, travel companions, group members, and friends.

During the days we would explore the city of Chongqing by train, bus, and foot and then retreat to the studio for reflection. Conversations would continue throughout the night when our Chinese counterparts would take us to restaurants to enjoy regionally significant spicy family-style food, (ie. hot pot).

Experiencing the city together, working through ideas in the studio, and forging friendships around the dinner table were three factors that defined our cross-cultural collaboration and made the trip academically successful and experientially rich.

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The Chongqing Design Studios central theme was rapid urbanization. The city of Chongqing served as our laboratory where we could experience first-hand what one of the largest cities in the world looked like, sounded like, and felt like. Culture shock was to be expected, but it didnt only effect the American students. Many of our Chinese counterparts had recently moved to Chongqing from smaller towns for graduate school, leaving us both open for new experiences in which to relate. In many ways, the rapidly urbanizing Chinese city is a shock to all who experience it.

The opportunity to discuss what we were seeing with the Chinese students was critical to our ability to process the raw experiences. Before landing in China, our group of University of Minnesota students was armed with research about the history of China and the current trends that are shaping it. Our heads were full of the attention-grabbing headlines that paint China as a growth-fueled country headed towards environmental calamity. While the headlines are not to be discounted, they can present a distorted view of China when consumed on their own. Collaborating with the students allowed us to cut through the clamor of catchwords and

replace them with a connection based on the shared human experience. China became not a series of issues and policies to challenge, but rather a set of nested environments to try to understand through the eyes of those that call them home.

As design students, a parallel shift occurred in the way we viewed the urban environment. Skylines dotted with skyscrapers, packed transit routes, and vibrant sidewalks that doubled as public markets and gathering places stopped being perceived as other and instead were unpacked into open.

Working with the Chinese students allowed us to dig into individual sites and see the flows and influences that shaped them. We began to see design problems, challenges, and opportunities. And once you recode an experience into a language that designers can act on, the lessons you learn can be transported and applied back home as well.

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Maps, Hard Hats, and Cameras When we hit the city, it was a full emersion, full sensory experience. From navigating packed urban areas to strapping on hard hats to explore an abandoned steel mill, we all did our best to keep our eyes and our minds open and a camera always close at hand.

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Drawing as CommunicationThe common language between all of the students was drawing. When verbal communication stalled, it was left to drawing to communicate ideas. By working through quick sketches, drawing over printouts, and creating computer presentations, we were able to tap into the common language of design to help each other gain an understanding of the issues at hand.

We presented our work after a furious two day charrette to capture the collaborative energy and codify what we had explored during our time in Chongqing. The charrette would also serve to later catalyze our own individual thesis projects.

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Charrette

We used a charrette to harness our shared collaborative energy. Guided by faculty from the University of Chongqing and the University of Minnesota, the students split into two groups to focus on two distinct sites: the abandoned Chongqing Steel Mill and the ancient port of Ciqikou. Both are charged sites that explore how design can draw meaning from the past while accommodating the needs of the present in a country with a rich history and an appetite for destroying it.

Steel Mill Site

The Chongqing Steel Mill was once Chinas largest producer of steel and covered an area larger than downtown Minneapolis. It has now been reduced to rubble save for two buildings. In the next ten years, the city plans to completely redevelop it. The site presents designers the opportunity to engage with a site that has largely been wiped clean of its industrial history, to explore its unique riverfront geography, and to create a new riverfront identity for Chongqing.

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Ciqikou

Known as The Porcelain Mouth, Ciqikou is one of the last well-preserved traditional towns that dates back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. The old port of Ciqikou is no longer viable as an industrial port; instead it has become a successful tourist destination. However, the current population is lacking in infrastructure as the built environment and economy deteriorates. The site challenges designers to work within the existing historic fabric, reclaiming its historic significance while accommodating modernization.

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STUDENT WORK

Our three week study abroad trip to China was only the beginning of the Chongqing Design Studio. Once we returned to Minneapolis and slept off our jet lag, each student spent the next semester developing their travel experiences into design projects. The work presented here is the result of that effort.

The students from Chongqing University worked in groups that brought urban planners and architecture students together. University of Minnesota students worked individually developing their work as their Masters Final Project.

Although each project is unique, they are united by a strain of commonalities that stem from a group charrette we completed in China and from our collective travel travel experiences we shared while abroad.

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A RELIC REBORN

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A RELIC REBORN: The Redevelopment of Chongqings Steel Mill

Chen Huang Guo, Xu Xue Jiao, Li Xiang

The abandoned Chongqing steel factory is located in the center of the Dadukou district. This project focuses on redeveloping the formerly industrial land into an urban core to support culture, entertainment, industrial tourism, and business functions. The redeveloped site will become a second center of Chongqing, redefining its riverfront identity.

Current urban plans call for the development of a residential district in place of the abandoned steel mill. However, to maximize the potential of the site, the project is built on a program of cultural entertainment.

A main focus of the project is adaptively reusing an existing blast furnace, updating a relic of the last industrial century into a symbol of cultural value for the present.

. .

. .

.

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SYMBIOSIS

SYMBIOSIS: Adapting Industrial Infrastructure into an Industrial History Museum

Li Fen, Zhang Yu Ming, Wu Yue

Symbiosis is a proposal to turn an abandoned steel rolling warehouse into an industrial history museum. The existing building is one of the last remaining buildings in the abandoned Chongqing Steel Mill. The project creates symbiotic relationships between the past, present, and future of the building to create a museum and public space that captures the sites industrial heritage and shares it with the city.

The project draws urgency from the alarming rate at which Chongqings industrial history is disappearing. In the last national survey of cultural relics, one hundred important industrial buildings were identified. However, many of these buildings have since been destroyed due to an ambivalence towards the value of industrial history. Symbiosis captures the memory of its specific site while also demonstrating the importance of preserving Chongqings industrial heritage.

. . .

. . . .

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THE STEEL DRAGON

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Lastname | 13Wingate | 13

THE STEEL DRAGON: Presencing the Past

From blast furnace to cinema center in rapidly urbanizing china

Chris Wingate

The Steel Dragon explores how architecture can give presence to a sites past in juxtaposition with its rapidly urbanizing future. It will create an armature for public discussion about rapid urbanization in a country with a rich history and an appetite for destroying it.

China is going through an unprecedented period of rapid urbanization. In 1980, Chinas urban population was 191 million. Today that number has grown to 712 million - over half of the countrys total population. And an additional 300 million, equiva-lent to the entire population of the United States, are expected to migrate from rural to urban areas over the next fifteen years. The impact on the built environment has been severe; the only feature in the urban landscape more ubiquitous than construc-tion cranes are the rubble piles that precede them as China tears down the old to make way for the new.

Rapid Urbanization and the Steel MillA strong architectural experience always produces a sense of

loneliness and silence irrespective of the actual number of people there or the noise. (Juhani Pallisma)

The design proposal is located on an abandoned steel mill in Chongqing. With a population of more than 31 million, Chongqing is the largest city you have never heard of. Located in the center of China, it sits to the west of the coastal cities like Shanghai and Beijing that receive the majority of the worlds attention. However, Chongqings location on the Yangtze River has positioned it as a vital industrial and commercial trading port throughout Chinas history.

In 1938 the Chongqing Iron and Steel Company constructed a steel mill in a valley on the western bank of the Yangtze River eight miles south of the city center. The mills location connected it to Chinas water transportation network, enabling easy shipment of raw materials to the mill and distribution of finished steel to the rest of the country. Over the next seventy years, the mill became the largest steel producer in the country, providing the essential material that helped shape modern China. Chongqing steel was used to fuel the Second Sino-Japanese and Korean Wars in 1938 and 1950, to support industrialization efforts of the Great Leap Forward that began in 1962, and to construct the dense built environments that are a product of Chinas current period of rapid urbanization.

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14 | Lastname14 | Wingate

By 2006, Chongqing had expanded outward and engulfed the steel mill. New development could be seen peeking over the high hills that bordered the mill, straining to flood into the valley and reconnect the city with the river. As the urban popu-lation densified around the steel mill, the pollution and noise created by the mill, combined with the potential profitability of redeveloping the site, caused the government to shut it down and build a new facility on the outskirts of town.

In the intervening six years, the decommissioned mill has been leveled, turning it into an expanse of rubble that stretches as far as the eye can see. A small army of migrant workers pick through the wreckage harvesting scrap materials while the staccato explosions of giant excavators drilling through building foundations reverberate through the polluted air. Only two buildings a blast furnace and a steel rolling warehouse - remain as a vestige to the sites industrial history as the government clears the land for new development.

The approved master plan calls for the complete destruc-tion of the steel mills history by tearing down the remaining industrial structures, leveling the retaining walls that tamed

the topography for industrial use, and ignoring the pedestrian pathways that cut through the hills between the mill and the surrounding city. What is proposed instead is the generic, placeless city making that covers much of urban China. Groups of identical residential towers will hug the steep slopes at the back of the site and step down to a commercial belt along the waterfront. With the power of the Chinese government behind the development, the master plan could be fully constructed in the next ten years. This will complete the sites transition from Chinas largest steel mill to Chongqings newest waterfront development in less than two decades.

In this shifting context, the design proposal intervenes at multiple scales to explore how architecture can give presence to a sites past in juxtaposition with its rapidly urbanizing future. The Steel Dragon is a proposal to convert the abandoned blast furnace into a cinema center for the production, performance, and public discussion of cinematic works. Interventions at the building, landscape, and master plan scale will create a cultural corridor connecting the city above to the waterfront below with the blast furnace as its landmark anchor.

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Lastname | 15Wingate | 15

Chinese Cinema[Jia Zhangkes] films illuminate the transformations taking place

in Chinas environment, architecture, and society by placing everyday people in the midst of a landscape in turmoil. Aiming to restore the concrete memory of place and to evoke individual history in a rapidly modernizing society, the filmmaker recovers the immediate past in order to imagine the future. His films reflect reality truthfully, while simultaneously using fantasy and a distinct aesthetic to pose existential questions about life and status in a society in flux. Through rigorous specificity, his art attains universal scope and appeal. (MOMA, Jia Zhangke: A Retrospective)

Chinese cinema, like the country itself, is undergoing a period of explosive growth. China is now the second-largest box office in the world and is expected to overtake America to become the largest cinema market by 2020. Ticket sales have increased by 79% over the past two years and there is a growing contingent of young Chinese that visit movie theaters at least once a week. Economic growth is powering this demand, as urban dwellers have experienced an 11% increase in disposable income per capita over the last two years. With guaranteed

demand, Chongqing cinema developers estimate that it takes less than three years for a 1,000 seat cinema to become profit-able. It is little surprise then that 10 new movie theaters are built in China every day.

While Hollywood blockbusters like Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol and Men in Black III occupied seven of the ten spots in the list of Chinas top grossing films in 2012, there is also a fervent independent movement in Chinese cinema. Fueled by access to cheap digital recording devices and editing software, a new generation of artists are using cinema as a medium to explore the rapid transition their country is going through.

Jia Zhangke is a director at the forefront of the indepen-dent movement. The MOMA recently had an exhibition of his work and wrote that His films illuminate the transformations taking place in Chinas environment, architecture, and society by placing everyday people in the midst of a landscape in turmoil. Aiming to restore the concrete memory of place and to evoke individual history in a rapidly modernizing society, the filmmaker recovers the immediate past in order to imagine the future.

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The proposal includes programmatic space to help visiting artists working with cinema the opportunity to take their craft to the next level. Three sound stages, access to top end equipment, open office space, and necessary support space will create an environment that fosters the next wave of Chinese cinema.

The beauty of a movie theater is that it is ambivalent to the types of movies shown inside; a theater can take any type of film, from the latest special effects-laden blockbuster to a controver-sial independent documentary, and turn it into a shared public experience. Movie theaters invite a large swath of the populace to engage in the public consumption, creation, and curation of culture. The emotional pull of moving images on a screen can cause a darkened room to fill with laughter, to shrink in fear, or to enter a state of silent contemplation. A kernel of an idea sparked within the theater can grow into a full conversation on the way out.

This public conversation is further enhanced by film festivals. In China, government-sponsored film festivals are every bit as big and overblown as their American counterparts. But Chongqing is also home to the longest running independent film festival in China. The design proposal engages cinema in all of its forms, from an outdoor theater that can accommodate 6,000 people during a film festival to flexible screening rooms for independent films. The mechanism of the design is to leverage cinema to generate public discussion and use the architecture to contextu-alize it within the specific steel mill site, creating a window into the process and effects of rapid urbanization.

The Existing Blast FurnaceWhy is it that the stone foundations we discover in an overgrown

meadow, a broken-down barn or an abandoned boathouse can arouse our imagination, while our own houses seem to stifle and smother our daydreams? (Juhani Pallasmaa)

The blast furnace is a hulking symbol of the sites industrial past. Standing one hundred feet wide, four hundred feet long, and two hundred and fifty feet tall, the steel blast furnace can currently be seen from a mile away on the rubble-strewn site. Historically, the blast furnace played a critical role in the steel mill; it housed the first step in the steel making process. Within its enormous blast furnace, raw materials were combined under immense heat and pressure to become molten slag. The slag would then pour like molten lava along the raised floor of the attached cast house where it was cooled before being trans-

ported to other parts of the mill for further processing. In the sites reincarnation as a cinema center, the blast furnace retains its role as a critical landmark and houses the crux of the program; the movie theaters and lobby space where the raw emotions of a cinematic experience are shaped into public dialogue.

The design recognizes the existing blast furnace as a strong architectural experience. Far more powerful than a mere symbolic connection it has to an industrial process, the building itself impresses on the visitor the sense of scale, physicality, and sheer power that resonates with the industrial undercur-rent of the site. Michael Benedikt, in his essay For an Architecture of Reality, called experiences like these direct aesthetic experi-ences of the real, and created language to identify the qualities inherent in these buildings: presence, significance, materiality, and emptiness.

Of these four qualities, emptiness is the most elusive. Michael Benedikt argues that emptiness allows a buildings users the space to project their imaginations of not only what the building is, but also what it could be. Emptiness allows a powerful building experience deeply rooted in actuality the opportunity to transcend reality as material and spatial triggers blossom to become idealized versions of themselves within the human mind.

The design identifies these qualities in the existing blast furnace and attempts to enhance them through the careful adaptive reuse of the structure into a movie theater. It also explores them through the design of a new building to facili-tate writing, shooting, and editing movies. Finally, the qualities of presence, significance, materiality, and emptiness underpin design decisions at the site and master plan scale to create an experiential pathway that connects the site from the top of the hill to the rivers edge.

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The Design:Adaptive Reuse of the Blast Furnace

The most distilled connection between intent, program, design, and user experience occurs in the blast furnace theater progression. Cinema-goers enter on the ground level of the existing blast furnace, traversing a space thick with concrete columns that support the massive weight of the plinth and furnace above. Ticketing, concessions, and support spaces all occur on the ground floor. The progression to the theaters continues up a flight of stairs as visitors enter the immense lobby in the repurposed cast house. Here, the buildings massive existing steel structure rises to cathedral-like heights. The back wall is partially glazed, giving visitors their first interior view of the full blast furnace. They stand on a glass floor that reveals the concrete below, scarred by the path where molten slag once flowed. And to the south, a full height glazed curtain wall opens on to a direct view to the river.

The user progression continues from the lobby across glazed walkways that span an existing gap between the concrete plinth and the building skin. These walkways directly surround the buildings existing columns, bringing visitors in direct contact with them and highlight their immense size. The bridges lead into the theaters themselves. After a screening, the progres-sion is reversed, directing cinemagoers back out into the lobby and directly towards the view of the river. Here, the interplay between new and old in the architecture is enhanced by the interplay between new development, old industrial infrastruc-ture, and the anchoring river in the distance. Rapid urbanization is framed by the architecture and put on display much like the movie screens display the moving images that flash across them.

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The Design:Cinema Production Building

While the blast furnace is the most potent artifact on the site, the enormous concrete retaining walls also speak to the sites past. Rising forty five feet in height, their massive patinated surfaces reflect the conflict between man and earth inherent in the industrial processes once undertaken on the site. The design of the cinema production building gives presence to these walls through a new building design that anchors to, grows from, and enhances their unique and powerful characteristics.

Conceptually, the new mass is first extruded directly from the footprint of the retaining walls. Because the buildings program is malleable (sound stages, post production space, and open office), the design is then free to react to larger site forces. The geometry of the master plan affects the next conceptual move, creating a cut in the massing that is generated by a road that runs directly into the site. The cut becomes a stairway leading up and into the retaining wall. The pathway then turns and becomes a bridge to the top of the blast furnace. The bridge itself is a reference to the demolished bridge that used to carry materials to the top of the furnace. Its new incarnation carries pedestrian traffic to a lookout at the top, capping the progres-sion from site to retaining wall to overlook.

The next conceptual move is to insert the three sound stages into the massing. These hanger-like spaces are treated as a counter-weight to the mass of the retaining wall itself. Their presence is reflected in the massing that slopes up from the cut at the buildings center to their placement at the build-ings periphery. The space between the sound stages and the concrete wall becomes a back lot-like space for moving and constructing the large equipment and stage sets that are part of movie production. On the second floor, open office space is illuminated by a large glazed ceiling that streams light against the existing retaining wall, giving it a strong presence on the build-ings interior. The steel composite beams that span the large open volume anchor directly into the retaining wall, heightening the understanding of its size, strength, and aura of permanence.

An outdoor theater is tucked under the new massing as well. The roof form of the building creates an overhang of the upper level of seating and the lower level of seating is nestled against the side of the enclosed theaters. This sets the stage for an outdoor movie experience that is shaped by the new architecture but is also colored by the presence of the existing blast furnace towering in the backdrop.

The Design:Master Plan

This project has an opportunity to affect more than its direct site. Its location midway between the bluffs to the north and the river to the south put it in a position to anchor a pathway that connects the surrounding area to the riverfront. It also serves as a landmark for a new cultural district that runs from the building to the river.

The master planning began by identifying an area of agency in the existing plan that the design could influence. The first move was to reinstate the presence of the blast furnace and the retaining walls that surround it. The plans main roads were then brought through the site. Next, a strong connection to the river was created by the formation of a park running from the base of the theater lobby to the rivers edge. Finally, density was created along the roads running to the cinema center. The final master plan respects the main circulation patterns of the existing plan while capitalizing on opportunities to allow the power of the cinema center to shape Chongqings new waterfront identity.

The design also creates an experiential path that connects the hillside, cinema center, and waterfront. The path starts by minimally intervening on existing pedestrian pathways that cut through the thick foliage at the top of the hill. Here, the materiality of concrete paving and Cor Ten steel is introduced, but the beauty of the existing condition is allowed to dominate the experience. This pathway continues down over the first retaining wall and into a park overlooking the cinema center. From this park, visitors can progress down stairways attached to the second retaining wall and into the cinema center site. They can also progress up the bridge that leads to the top of the blast furnace for the culminating view that collapses the material reality of industrial history, the new artifacts of rapid urbaniza-tion, and the natural history of Chinas largest river.

The Steel Dragon operates on the scale of the building, site, and master plan to give presence to the unique history of the site in juxtaposition with its rapidly urbanizing future. It is a study in how architecture can intervene on a site in turmoil, recovering its immediate past to reimagine its future. The multiple scales of the project combine a cinematic program with architecture that carefully considers context and the way it is experienced to create a building, a site, and a master plan that creates an armature for public discussion about rapid urbanization in a country with a rich history and an appetite for destroying it.

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Selected Bibliography

Benedikt, Michael. For an Architecture of Reality. New York: Lumen, 1987. Print.

Campanella, Thomas J. The Concrete Dragon: Chinas Urban Revolution and What It Means for the World. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2008. Print.

Heidegger, Martin. Poetry, Language, Thought. New York: Harper & Row, 1971. Print

Loeffler, Heather, Jennifer Ollman, and Yamei Wang. Persistence of Vision: Shanghai Architects in Dialogue. [Hong Kong]: MCCM Creations, 2007. Print.

Pallasmaa, Juhani, The Geometry of Feeling--A Look at the Phenomenology of Architecture, Arkkitehti, no. 3, Marja-Ritta Norri, ed., trans. Dianna C. Tullberg, Suomen Arkkitehtilitto--Finlands Arkitektfrbund, Helsinki, 1985.

Burdett, Richard, and Deyan Sudjic. The Endless City: The Urban Age Project by the London School of Economics and Deutsche Banks Alfred Herrhausen Society. London: Phaidon, 2007. Print.

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In a world w

here social interaction personal editorials are expected to be com

municated in 140-characters or less, archi-

tecture has to find a way to provoke our fleeting attention spans;

to become m

ore relevant within a sm

all window

of opportunity grow

ing smaller every day. So how

do you create an experience--architecturally--that provokes the absent-m

inded attention of railw

ay passengers?

Site: A Private Renaissance

Once part of the Sichuan province, C

hongqing became its

own m

unicipality in 1997, after years of heavy industrial produc-tion, w

here the spoils of industry, and exhaustion of time, collide

and merge, transform

ing the city of Chongqing and filling it w

ith life and energy: the conflux of the Yangtze and Jialing R

ivers. W

ithin C

entral C

hongqing is

the D

adukou D

istrict; a

destitute, but but industrious region just south of the Jialing and Yangtze river conflux. A

nd here in Dadukou, em

bracing a bend in the Yangtze river, is the project site: nearly 800 acres of industrial ruin.

Not far from

the urban center of Chongqing, know

n as the central business district (or C

BD), lay the ruins of the C

hongqing Iron &

Steel Com

pany, a former steel m

ill site recently demol-

ished to make w

ay for a new urban center. U

nder direct supervision of local C

hinese Governm

ent officials, the state financed project developer retains strict operation of the site, and very specific plans for its present and future redevelopm

ent.C

entral to the governments operation is the design of

an industrial heritage museum

within the ruins of one of the

rolling mills vital to the form

er tenants product. Primarily used

as the final step in the production of steel rails, the rolling mill

occupies an area of more than 600-thousand square feet, and

is composed of fourteen sheds ranging betw

een 300-1000 feet long and 50-100 feet w

ide.C

entral to the governments plan is the role that the indus-

trial museum

will play in the success of the rest of the 800+

acre redevelopm

ent. Along w

ith being the catalyst for preserving the m

emory and history of C

hongqing industry, the museum

is expected to prom

ote comm

erce in the surrounding area while

acting as the beacon to its economic success. A

nything less is unacceptable.

Holley | 3

2 | Holley

Title image: Collision

Transit OperationsIntercity Rail: CRH Chongqing-Chengdu LineCom

muter Rail: Chongqing M

etroLight-Rail: Local Tram

ServiceBus: Public Transit ServiceFerry: M

arine Transit Service

Urban Catchment Area

1/4 mile: Approx. 5-m

inute walk1/2 m

ile: Approx. 10-15 minute walk

1 mile: Long walk, bike or bus/taxi

3 mile: Bike, bus/taxi or park & ride

In a world w




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ay passengers?



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ivers. W

ithin C

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ent. Along w




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ote comm




Holley | 3

2 | Holley









inute walk1/2 m




Intercity RailCom

muter Rail

Light-RailBus

Ferry

Commercial

ResidentialPublic

RecreationTransit

3/4 mile

1 mile

1/2 mile

1/4 mile

3 mile

Chongqing M

unicipalityChongqing Central

DadukouDistrict

Project Site

In a world w




to become m


all window

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ay passengers?



hongqing became its

own m






ivers. W

ithin C

entral C

hongqing is

the D

adukou D

istrict; a




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hongqing Iron &

Steel Com



ished to make w



hinese Governm


ent.C










ide.C


trial museum


acre redevelopm

ent. Along w




is expected to prom

ote comm




Holley | 3

2 | Holley









inute walk1/2 m




Intercity RailCom

muter Rail

Light-RailBus

Ferry

Commercial

ResidentialPublic

RecreationTransit

3/4 mile

1 mile

1/2 mile

1/4 mile

3 mile

Chongqing M


DadukouDistrict

Project Site

In a world w




to become m


all window

of opportunity grow




ay passengers?



hongqing became its

own m






ivers. W

ithin C

entral C

hongqing is

the D

adukou D

istrict; a




Not far from




hongqing Iron &

Steel Com



ished to make w



hinese Governm


ent.C










ide.C


trial museum


acre redevelopm

ent. Along w




is expected to prom

ote comm




Holley | 3

2 | Holley









inute walk1/2 m




Intercity RailCom

muter Rail

Light-RailBus

Ferry

Commercial

ResidentialPublic

RecreationTransit

3/4 mile

1 mile

1/2 mile

1/4 mile

3 mile

Chongqing M


DadukouDistrict

Project Site

THE ART OF COLLISION

104

In a world w




to become m


all window

of opportunity grow




ay passengers?



hongqing became its

own m






ivers. W

ithin C

entral C

hongqing is

the D

adukou D

istrict; a




Not far from




hongqing Iron &

Steel Com



ished to make w



hinese Governm


ent.C










ide.C


trial museum


acre redevelopm

ent. Along w




is expected to prom

ote comm




Holley | 3

2 | Holley









inute walk1/2 m




In a world w




to become m


all window

of opportunity grow




ay passengers?



hongqing became its

own m






ivers. W

ithin C

entral C

hongqing is

the D

adukou D

istrict; a




Not far from




hongqing Iron &

Steel Com



ished to make w



hinese Governm


ent.C










ide.C


trial museum


acre redevelopm

ent. Along w




is expected to prom

ote comm




Holley | 3

2 | Holley









inute walk1/2 m




Intercity RailCom

muter Rail

Light-RailBus

Ferry

Commercial

ResidentialPublic

RecreationTransit

3/4 mile

1 mile

1/2 mile

1/4 mile

3 mile

Chongqing M


DadukouDistrict

Project Site

In a world w




to become m


all window

of opportunity grow




ay passengers?



hongqing became its

own m






ivers. W

ithin C

entral C

hongqing is

the D

adukou D

istrict; a




Not far from




hongqing Iron &

Steel Com



ished to make w



hinese Governm


ent.C










ide.C


trial museum


acre redevelopm

ent. Along w




is expected to prom

ote comm




Holley | 3

2 | Holley









inute walk1/2 m




Intercity RailCom

muter Rail

Light-RailBus

Ferry

Commercial

ResidentialPublic

RecreationTransit

3/4 mile

1 mile

1/2 mile

1/4 mile

3 mile

Chongqing M


DadukouDistrict

Project Site

In a world w




to become m


all window

of opportunity grow




ay passengers?



hongqing became its

own m






ivers. W

ithin C

entral C

hongqing is

the D

adukou D

istrict; a




Not far from




hongqing Iron &

Steel Com



ished to make w



hinese Governm


ent.C










ide.C


trial museum


acre redevelopm

ent. Along w




is expected to prom

ote comm




Holley | 3

2 | Holley









inute walk1/2 m




Intercity RailCom

muter Rail

Light-RailBus

Ferry

Commercial

ResidentialPublic

RecreationTransit

3/4 mile

1 mile

1/2 mile

1/4 mile

3 mile

Chongqing M


DadukouDistrict

Project Site

105

Setting: All Roads Lead to DadukouThe subway ride to Dadukou was a dynamic trip through

the many layers of Chongqing. What we anticipated to be a normal site visit that afternoon suddenly grew into something more like an expedition. As we descended the stairs to Shapingba Station, the city we left aboveelectrified by impulsive youth and prosperitywas very different from the city we emerged to find some 20-minutes later. After a quick and relatively efficient line transfer in Daping, the new, clean white subway car we left behindmodestly filled with Chinese youth silenced by handheld technologywas replaced by an old, dirty metallic onejam packed with the clamor of tired poverty and restless children. To my unsuspecting surprise, the hard fluorescent lights inside our car, encased by a tube in the ground, were swiftly washed away with daylight and a regained sense of motion as we rose from beneath the earth and ascended over the city. Blurs of color rushed passed our window from the endless balconies strung with morning laundry, which flanked both sides of the elevated track we straddled. Above us; only a slow moving, low level fog. Below us; the real-time display of 140 thousand people per square foot.

The people of China seem to be almost completely unaware of the density that compresses around them; growing thicker by the day, at a pace arguably never witnessed before,

let alone felt. Stacked like crackers in a cellophane sleeve, the layers of Chongqing ebb and flow; they grow, crack, bend, break and disappear. The variety observed within a single 3-mile trek is often more dynamic than most of the United States combined, though definitely more pronounced.

User: Consciously UnawareSomewhere in the minds of railway commuters is an absent

awareness of where they are. Aided by the hypnotic rhythm of metal on metal, they slip out of their surroundings and into their heads, taking their cues from what they feel more often than what they see. On the other hand is the traveller. Whether experienced or leisurely, they keep themselves consciously aware. Most likely due to the modern day inconvenience and hassle that comes with travelling, they pique their attention in hopes of not adding to them. Capturing the attention of these two types of railway users is critical to the success of this project, to meeting the needs of the Chinese Government, and in grounding an argument that combines and relocates fiver separate stations into one and placing it in the ruins of an old steel skeleton.

Robert H. Holley

Dadukou Station (Chongqing South)

The Art of Collision and the Geometry of Meandering

Holley | 1

106

Setting: All Roads Lead to DadukouThe subway ride to Dadukou was a dynamic trip through

the many layers of Chongqing. What we anticipated to be a normal site visit that afternoon suddenly grew into something more like an expedition. As we descended the stairs to Shapingba Station, the city we left aboveelectrified by impulsive youth and prosperitywas very different from the city we emerged to find some 20-minutes later. After a quick and relatively efficient line transfer in Daping, the new, clean white subway car we left behindmodestly filled with Chinese youth silenced by handheld technologywas replaced by an old, dirty metallic onejam packed with the clamor of tired poverty and restless children. To my unsuspecting surprise, the hard fluorescent lights inside our car, encased by a tube in the ground, were swiftly washed away with daylight and a regained sense of motion as we rose from beneath the earth and ascended over the city. Blurs of color rushed passed our window from the endless balconies strung with morning laundry, which flanked both sides of the elevated track we straddled. Above us; only a slow moving, low level fog. Below us; the real-time display of 140 thousand people per square foot.

The people of China seem to be almost completely unaware of the density that compresses around them; growing thicker by the day, at a pace arguably never witnessed before,

let alone felt. Stacked like crackers in a cellophane sleeve, the layers of Chongqing ebb and flow; they grow, crack, bend, break and disappear. The variety observed within a single 3-mile trek is often more dynamic than most of the United States combined, though definitely more pronounced.

User: Consciously UnawareSomewhere in the minds of railway commuters is an absent

awareness of where they are. Aided by the hypnotic rhythm of metal on metal, they slip out of their surroundings and into their heads, taking their cues from what they feel more often than what they see. On the other hand is the traveller. Whether experienced or leisurely, they keep themselves consciously aware. Most likely due to the modern day inconvenience and hassle that comes with travelling, they pique their attention in hopes of not adding to them. Capturing the attention of these two types of railway users is critical to the success of this project, to meeting the needs of the Chinese Government, and in grounding an argument that combines and relocates fiver separate stations into one and placing it in the ruins of an old steel skeleton.

Robert H. Holley

Dadukou Station (Chongqing South)

The Art of Collision and the Geometry of Meandering

Holley | 1

107

In a world where social interaction personal editorials are expected to be communicated in 140-characters or less, archi-tecture has to find a way to provoke our fleeting attention spans; to become more relevant within a small window of opportunity growing smaller every day. So how do you create an experience--architecturally--that provokes the absent-minded attention of railway passengers?

Site: A Private RenaissanceOnce part of the Sichuan province, Chongqing became its

own municipality in 1997, after years of heavy industrial produc-tion, where the spoils of industry, and exhaustion of time, collide and merge, transforming the city of Chongqing and filling it with life and energy: the conflux of the Yangtze and Jialing Rivers.

Within Central Chongqing is the Dadukou District; a destitute, but but industrious region just south of the Jialing and Yangtze river conflux. And here in Dadukou, embracing a bend in the Yangtze river, is the project site: nearly 800 acres of industrial ruin.

Not far from the urban center of Chongqing, known as the central business district (or CBD), lay the ruins of the Chongqing Iron & Steel Company, a former steel mill site recently demol-ished to make way for a new urban center. Under direct supervision of local Chinese Government officials, the state financed project developer retains strict operation of the site, and very specific plans for its present and future redevelopment.

Central to the governments operat

Documents

Chongqing Design Studio