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Architects: REL ARCHITECTS
- Area: 42666 m²
- Year: 2022
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Photographs:Arch-Exist
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Lead Architects: Hongduo Jin
Text description provided by the architects. Zhanqi Village is one of the first batch of rural revitalization demonstration villages in Chengdu and is also a must-visit destination for red cultural rural tourism in Chengdu. Located in the west of Chengdu city, adjacent to Pidu District, Dujiangyan City, and Pengzhou City, the village is situated on a plain with a unique natural environment and abundant natural resources, providing unlimited development space for the village and making it an ideal place for rural tourism development.
Creating Symbols Of Red Memory To Enhance The Strength Of The Red Lineage. The story of Da Yu's flood control marks the beginning of large-scale water management in Chinese history and laid the foundation for Chinese civilization. In 1965, under the call of the Party, Zhanqi Village became a banner in the activities of water conservancy construction, land reform, and improvement, and changed its name from Jifeng Brigade to Zhanqi Brigade. Today, under the leadership of the Party, Zhanqi Village has achieved a historic leap from standing up and becoming prosperous, to becoming strong. Before the Chinese New Year of the Year of the Dog in 2018, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited Tangchang Town and gave full recognition and praise to Zhanqi Village, calling it "truly deserving of its name." In 2021, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Party, we were commissioned to reshape the living space of the villagers, to allow the memory of the place to blend into the lives of the people with an open attitude.
According to the definition of the "lieu de mémoire" proposed by French historian Pierre Nora, various media or carriers that bear and shape French national consciousness are referred to as "sites of memory". In the context of the War Flag culture, how can we focus on the present and future of the red culture and reshape the spiritual "sites of memory"? How will the "sites of memory" carry and narrate commemorative events and evoke visitors' perceptions and emotions?
The "site" in the "site of memory" can be understood as a "place". In the field of architecture, a place not only indicates the existence of physical space but also carries a certain spiritual essence. With the profound red culture atmosphere, superior geographic conditions of convergence of eight rivers, development policies emphasizing ecological protection, and the collective strength of the people in War Flag Village, we have extracted these specific and typical memory fragments and constructed a spiritually rich site of memory through abstract methods.
Upgrading Goals. Take a series of overall improvement and transformation measures for Zhanqi Village along the road that Chairman Mao once walked. Starting from the entrance of the Shaxi Line, the landscape and buildings along Zhanqi Road and Zhenxing Road will be redesigned and integrated to unify the architectural style and create a more distinctive overall impression of Zhanqi Village. Continuing along the visiting path, facing the central axis of the Zhanqi community, Zhenxing Plaza and Party-Masses Plaza will be designed in an integrated manner to improve the existing landscape, mainly through the transformation and upgrade of roads and green spaces.
Red ribbons fly, and Green emotions stay. With the foundation of "Red Battle Flag and Rooted in Bloodline", create a red-themed small loop and a research-based large loop. At the same time, the green large loop connects the scattered plots of forest and farmland, incorporating farming art and forest elements, and enhancing the artistic and cultural temperament of the area. Here, the collision of farming art and red genes brings a refreshing sensory experience.
The overall color scheme is the traditional Chinese red, and the form is inspired by silk ribbons that wind over the site, creating a visually stunning picture. The flowing lines of the red ribbons create a deep and meaningful green rural landscape, perfectly combining strength and softness, warmth and simplicity, serenity and vitality. Starting from the entrance park square, this red ribbon slowly extends along the site, arrayed and gradually changing, running through the entire tourist area, providing a unified theme for the various functional building clusters. The pedestrian walkway is combined with the slow-moving leisure area, extending to the central water feature of the pedestrian street, enhancing the commercial display and inspiring commercial vitality. The intertwining of red and green is mutually beneficial, and the brilliant colors bloom, adding a dazzling touch to the entire site.
Based on the architectural style of the surrounding agricultural museums, Zhanqi Hotel, and Zhenxing Academy, the facades of the blocks are analyzed in terms of elements, with gray as the main color tone and simplified facade elements, while retaining blue bricks, white walls, and adding wooden grilles to highlight local culture. The existing storefront signs are sorted out, and on the basis of one store, one sign, a deep gray metal frame and a glass background are used to echo the overall facade style, creating a more harmonious atmosphere for the block.
Red Flag Shines Bright, Rooted in Our Bloodline. The use of the original square is an important part of the renovation of the Red Flag Village's style. It is a crucial node along the tour route, connecting various attractions and neighborhoods around it. It is also an important landscape on the way to the rural revitalization school. At the same time, the square is located behind the collective housing of the Red Flag Village residents and serves as a public gathering place for their daily lives. The original Party and Masses Square was designed in a generic style, and the cultural elements of the Red Flag Village were too simplistic and the functional positioning was not clear enough.
We have reorganized the square, removing arbitrary boundaries and shaping it into an open party and group square. This helps to create a gathering place for cultural life in Zhanqi Village, while also giving residents and tourists a place to rest and relax. At the same time, we tell the story of the red flag through color, material, and form, recounting the red memories that the site carries.
Raise the red wings and turn a new page. The design of the square continues the floating belt element of the landscape, which continues to be reflected in the party square, allowing socialist culture to be displayed and flown while linking the various functional areas. The site connects the Tianfu Farming Culture Museum and the Rural Revitalisation Training Institute, naturally forming a triangular square area. Facing the Battle Flag community, the site is raised by 1.35 meters, while shielding the cluttered scene of the northern intersection, as if the palm of the Battle Flag earth cracks open, bursting with the power to believe in unity and move forward together. The design of the square also takes into account the need for villagers and visitors to stay and see the results of the innovative spirit of the village government and the changes brought about by the new policies. The walk-up steps give a place to sit and watch. The design concept focuses on 'ecological priority', preserving the original trees and introducing 'eight rivers flowing together' at the entrance of the square to reflect the achievements of water conservancy and land conversion. The information board is combined with the "floating belt" of the site, which has both a beautiful landscape effect and a practical function.
The choice of material, Xingying red granite paving, continues the concept of socialism, a metaphor for the socialist gene that flows through the village and is ready to break ground. The cultural wall in the square uses red masonry to tell the story of the vibrant revitalization of the village.
The public space is the lung of the village, a gathering place for all kinds of activities, a place where people come together to discuss, demonstrate and demand change and progress. The scale and state of this open public space encourage the expression of people's vitality and promotes the participation and interaction of villagers and bring them closer together.
The renewal of the Party Square continues the way of life of the residents of Battle Flag Village as well as bringing a little change to their humdrum lives. Every day as the sun rises, visitors come to the square to immerse themselves in the socialist culture of Battle Flag Town; just as night falls, villagers are eager to gather at the square to find a break to relax. Children and adults, square dance teams, gossiping old people, aspiring youths, and different groups of people under different times and spaces find their place in the Party Square.
To the north of the square is the former Party Service Centre, which has to be complemented by an additional building next to it. We wanted the new building to respond to the surrounding architectural style while balancing it with the surrounding ancient style in a modern way. The new building consequently extends naturally to the east of the building and is linked to the original building by a grey space. Through the combination of position and height, it harmonizes with the surrounding buildings and blends naturally into the skyline. The new building allows the new spaces to form a new three-dimensional spatial order with the existing spaces. The folding of the ridge enriches the spatial experience of the interior and symbolizes the continued flight of the local socialist heritage.
The Party Service Centre has fewer windows and a more substantial volume. In order to continue the overall style, the Battle Flag Primordial Hall first ensures its solemnity. At the same time, in order to continue the design style of the Party Building Centre, the building façade of the first floor is also more solid. Although the ground floor of the party building adopts a more solid window style, the windows are distributed more freely, breaking the traditional sense of the seriousness of the party building; at the same time, for its display function to be more transparent, the upper floor is placed in a glass body to make it lighter. On this basis, metal grilles are introduced into the façade in conjunction with the surrounding landscape of the neighborhood, making the façade a natural transition between reality and illusion. This ensures that the interior is permeable and at the same time shaded, creating a more layered feeling of light and shadow.
In the choice of materials, we have blended traditional and modern elements, using stone on the first floor to add a contemporary rural feel, and metal and glass on the first floor to add a modern feel to the building, with the whole façade showing the unique charm of the local socialist culture of Battle Flag Village.
The internal display space also echoes the overall floating belt design of the landscape, with the floor and ceiling being decorated with floating belts as if the culture of the party were continuing to soar. The internal and external spaces are then unified to a certain extent. Party culture and the local imprint are exchanged in the space, creating a new chemical reaction.
The renewal of Battle Flag Village brings new vitality and activity to the village, giving it a new look. We have focused on considering the living needs and cultural background of the villagers, respecting the history and environment of the village, and through rational planning and design, we have created a rural community that is pleasant to live in, work in and visit. It is hoped that this village revitalization transformation will become a successful example of an organic blend of socialist learning and green countryside, creating an immersive red cultural and tourism destination that will become a typical representative of rural revitalization.
