by Darren Chang

This is the thesis research for my master of architecture degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Reading it more than a decade after its completion, it is disheartening to see that the hope I expressed at the end of the research has fallen ten thousand leagues short of reality, as the rulers of Beijing has tightened their grip on the city, rather than taking a laissez faire approach and allowing it to evolve organically. Nevertheless the insights I have gained through the research have profoundly influenced my take on historic preservation, and on architecture in general.

The timeline of historic preservation, composed by the GSD-AMO team in 2007 for the Xisibei Exhibition in Beijing.

INDIVIDUAL THESIS 2008

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN

THESIS ADVISOR: REM KOOLHAAS

Topic: Physicality versus Cultural Essence – A Comparative Study of Preservation Ideologies in the West and China, with a Case Study on Hutong Preservation in Beijing

Debate on authenticity and co-existence of different preservation ideologies

Answering the crisis in the field of preservation by the end of last century, the Nara Document on Authenticity acknowledged the existence of multiple preservation ideologies, which can be roughly divided into two groups. The first group is the preservation of physicality, which has been the main trend in the West, including the restorationism of Viollet-le-Duc, the conservationism of John Ruskin, and the creative process of Cesare Brandi. The second group is the preservation of cultural essence, which is derived within the Asian context, and has been more or less neglected by the mainstream preservation establishment. It is crucial to realize that after the arrival of Western influence to Asia, preservation practice in countries such as India, Japan, and China are a complex combination that reflects both the Western and Eastern ideologies.

Issues of the theoretical research and case study on *hutong* preservation

The thesis is divided into two parts. The first part is to discuss the reasons behind the generation of the two ideologies. The issues include historic models, emergence of nation-states, art tradition, building materials, and the Eastern emphasis on metaphysical meaning.

The theoretical research will be followed by a case study on the preservation of hutong neighborhood in Beijing.

The Western progressive history versus the Chinese cyclical history

The histories of the West and East, China in particular, can be generalized as following a progressive model and cyclical model respectively. In the progressive model of the Western history, each period has a set of ideologies that are different from the preceding periods. The people at any point along the historic timeline view themselves as one step ahead of the previous generations. The past is separated from the present, and this separation enables a peaceful coexistence of the present and the past.

The Western progressive history versus the Chinese cyclical history (continued)

In the Chinese cyclical model this peaceful coexistence is impossible. In order to replace the previous dynasty, the legitimacy of the present dynasty must be based on the erasure of the trace of its predecessor. The target of this erasure includes the imperial architecture, whose significance went far beyond its physical existence; it was the embodiment of the imperial power. The Ming dynasty went as far as raising an artificial mountain on the site of the Yuan palace, in order to suppress the “life energy” of the Yuan dynasty.

The emergence of nation-states in the West versus the *all-under-Heaven* concept in China

Historic preservation found its role in the process of nation-state making in the 18th century Europe. Monuments and art works provided testimony to the supposed temporal depth and internal unity of a nation. They contributed to the collective memory of the people that the nation-state aimed to rally.

The emergence of nation-states in the West versus the *all-under-Heaven* concept in China (continued)

For two thousand years the Chinese view of the world was defined by the term all-under-Heaven. According to this concept, “All lands under the Heaven are the Emperor’s territory, and all people within the four seas are the Emperor’s subjects.” Not only was the Emperor the ruler of the Middle Kingdom, he was also the supreme lord of the barbarian states around China. China remained as the center of the world known to her. It was only during China’s struggle for national identity in the 20th century that historic preservation entered China.

The acceptance of imitation in the Chinese art tradition

The acceptance of imitation is a phenomenon unique to the Chinese art tradition. The artistic value of the imitation can be as high as that of the original. This renders preservation of the original to be even less important in the Chinese context.

The acceptance of imitation in the Chinese art tradition (continued)

The built-in metabolism of Chinese wood architecture

While the Western classical architecture mainly used stone construction, the East Asian traditional architecture used timber construction. On the technical level, if the Chinese chose to build with wood for its economics and overcame the tectonic hurdles in large-scale timber construction, on the ideological level the disinterest in physical eternity shows that the Chinese understood that nothing would escape the erosion of time. The traditional Chinese and Japanese architecture has a built-in metabolism; instead of trying to hold on to the original material, it requires frequent repair and replenishment. The constantly renewed architecture provided the physical carrier to the metaphysical meaning of the culture, which would become what is eternal.

Chinese emphasis on metaphysical meaning over physical existence. Example 1.

The most famous garden of the ancient city of Suzhou, the Garden of Humble Governance, was first built in the 17th century. In 1955, about one-third of the garden was rebuilt. The original design was not faithfully followed as contemporary creativity was brought into the reconstruction. In 1997, in light of the Nara Document, the UNESCO enlisted the garden as a world cultural heritage site.

Chinese emphasis on metaphysical meaning over physical existence. Example 2.

The Yellow Crane Tower in central China has gone through the destruction-reconstruction cycle at least nine times throughout its history of 1,800 years, with the most recent reconstruction completed in 1984. Not only has its material been renewed, even its design has been altered from time to time. But the Yellow Crane Tower has always stood as one of the most prominent cultural sites in China.

Chinese emphasis on metaphysical meaning over physical existence. Example 3.

The last example I will bore you with is the Maple Bridge. The bridge has been known to every household in China for the poems written about it centuries ago. But “no poem refers to its physical presence; its reality is not the stones forming the span but associations realized in words.” The Maple Bridge, the Garden of Humble Governance, the Yellow Crane Tower, and many other cultural sites in China are essentially spiritual symbols the memory of which will evoke a nostalgic feeling and cultural affiliation among the Chinese. As how and when the building was constructed, and even if it has ever been constructed at all is basically an irrelevant question in the Chinese context. A one-thousand-year old building could have been re-erected twenty years ago, but for the Chinese the building has been there for a thousand years.

The Western approaches to preservation versus the Chinese evolutionary renewal

The Western approaches to preservation are based on the perception of a linear lifespan of the building. Restoration, conservation, and the creative process all essentially try to determine which point or points along the linear timeframe should be preserved. No physical existence can last forever and trying to preserve the physicality is a dilemma the Western civilization has faced. In the Chinese strategy, as parts of the construction rot away, they could be replenished by new parts. If a building was destroyed beyond repair, a new replacement would be built. The successive generations of buildings exhibit a trend of evolution so that each of them can adapt to the specific condition of its time. The difference in Western and Chinese approaches reflects their different understanding of authenticity. In the Western context, authenticity is embedded in the building’s form and material; theories of Viollet-le-Duc, Ruskin, and Brandi all eventually need to be applied to the physical features. In the Chinese context, authenticity depends on the building’s ability to carry the consistent and timeless cultural message.

The Western approaches to preservation versus the Chinese evolutionary renewal (continued)

Next, let’s look at how the Chinese evolutionary approach may be applied to a real problem.

case study: hutong preservation in beijing

Hutong is the traditional residential lanes in Beijing. It first appeared after the Mongols set Beijing as the capital of the Yuan dynasty in 1272.

The basic component of hutong is siheyuan, courtyard house with the open space in the center and houses on four sides. With the status of different family members spatially expressed by the positions of the rooms they occupy, siheyuan embodies the Confucian notion of domestic hierarchy and order.

On the urban level, the layout of the Old City suggests the same notion of order and harmony. Several siheyuans form a subblock. Sub-blocks form a city block. City blocks form the city. This modularity is the key character of Beijing’s urban formation.

There is a popular saying among the Chinese preservationists, “If there is no hutong, there is no Beijing.” Hutong is the DNA of the city. The aura of hutong life has given the city her cultural identity.

The number of hutongs in Beijing had increased with the population. But in recent years, this number has decreased dramatically, from more than 3,000 to about 1,200. Why so many hutongs disappeared in such a short time?

Superimposition of Occidental utopias onto an Oriental city

There are three reasons for this to happen. The first is that, two types of utopias were imported into China in the 20th century. One type is the Soviet urban utopia of “grand socialist city”, the other is the modern utopia that roots in Le Corbusier’s Radiant City. The Chinese people who have confused modernization with modernity are eager to prove their attainment of modern life by erecting skyscrapers and lifted ring-roads. The cost of this superimposition is numerous historic neighborhoods. The human scale and cozy living environment of the old Beijing are disappearing.

Economic interest has led to overdevelopment

The second reason is real estate development. Freed from the socialist planned economy, the real estate market in Beijing has been thriving. Large amount of hutongs were demolished to make space for the construction of office towers and apartment buildings. Even the preservation planning has been compromised frequently because when there is a conflict between planning and development, the local government tends to favor the developer for the substantial economic benefit brought to the locality.

Government fails to act as regulator while public power clashes with private property rights.

The third reason is that the 1982 Constitution prescribes that urban lands belong to the State. This opened the door for local governments to generate revenue by selling land development right to developers. While the residents receive minimal amount of compensation, the government and developer get their lion-share of the profit. The journalist Wang Jun calls this the “demolition economy”, or deconomy!

Beijing’s 25 historic conservation areas

A laissez-faire attitude by the government is necessary for the process of urban evolution to take place.

A liberal attitude and respect for private land ownership by the governments of Hong Kong, Tokyo, and the US have been proven important to urban preservation. I suggest the government of Beijing take a two-step approach: first, understand what the cultural essence of the Old City is and what is vital to the life of the old neighborhood, and make regulations to preserve the physical features that support the cultural essence. As the second step, they should really just leave the rest to the process of evolution.

I consider three physical aspects of hutong crucial to the preservation of Beijing’s cultural essence:

First, the relationship between hutong neighborhood and the imperial architecture, especially the profile of Beijing’s skyline.

Second, the modularity of siheyuan that enables a high degree of flexibility in composing neighborhood of various shapes and scales.

And, the sense of community afforded by hutong’s quality as an intermediate zone between the public life of the city and the privacy of siheyuan.

Change in physical condition and change in opinion

Evolution is what happens when the environmental pressures change. The changes in family size, life style, technology, regional climate, physical condition of the housing, and public opinion are all asking for a change of the siheyuan typology.

The change of “environmental pressures” in Beijing

It is not the purpose of this study to design such a new housing type. I just want to show that the courtyard house typology throughout different regions of China has a strong character of adapting to different social and natural conditions. This adaptability of courtyard house should be utilized in current Beijing to give the local residents an option between the complete preservation of the physicality of siheyuan and the complete reconstruction that will end up as typical modern apartment buildings.

How to preserve the cultural essence and allow the *hutong* typology to evolve at the same time?

An insertion strategy should be used to bring some new designs to the old neighborhood. The evolution of local architectural stock will not only enhance the life quality of the residents, but also make Beijing’s Old City an enriched and multi-layered urban cultural landscape that simultaneously stands for her past, present, and future.