Innovation: Reviving Polluted Ancient River with Low-cost Measures

The Longjin River was once essential for trade and transportation. Later on, due to the decline of Shajing, the river channel was gradually filled in, narrowed and polluted, turning into a 2-meter wide odorous gutter. Architects adopt a low-cost rain and sewage diversion strategy to divide the channel into two layers. The lower layer is sewage, and the upper is rainwater. Thus, when there is no rainwater, the upper one can be filled by reclaiming filtered water from a nearby sewage plant.

River roads occupy river channels due to excessive traffic. So, architects narrowed the road appropriately, adjusted the route into a curved line and removed iron railings to release space and planted vegetation. Besides, the design provided overhanging flower pots, benches, and pavilions to revive the Longjin River.

Design: Creating Public Spaces and Activating Local Cultural Heritage

Shajing Ancient Fair was the location of the Yanya Municipality in Song Dynasty and one of the four bazaars from 200 years ago in Shenzhen. It was also the famous origin of oyster, Cantonese opera and Mantis Boxing martial arts. However, due to the decline of Shajing, these traditional cultures are in danger of disappearing. Architects hope to restore local cultural heritage by creating public spaces for villagers. They transformed a fire station into a public stage for Cantonese opera, a building ruin into a sky bridge, and a small plaza into a Mantis Boxing practice square and a triangular space into an outdoor market for artifacts. Consequently, many villagers have gained new employment opportunities by teaching Cantonese opera, coaching Mantis Boxing, and selling local handicrafts.

Curation: Engaging Locals in Public Art Exhibition At Their Living Site

Shajing has preserved multiple heritage scenes for more than 1,000 years, yet only a few of which are protected as “artefacts” by relevant institutions. Some seemingly mundane spatial features - old houses, ancient wells, traditional streets, etc. -carry significant sociological and aesthetic values. As Shajing enlisted in an urban renewal plan, these spatial features are at risk of demolition. As a result, architects curated a public art exhibition at Shajing living site, invited the locals to participate in art creation, and transformed several old houses into exhibition halls. These efforts combined public art and architectural relics for mass appreciation, and raised collective awareness of local heritages' aesthetic value to prevent and delay a potential massive rapid change of Shajing.

Measures taken to reduce CO2 emissions

• Making use of existing buildings and redesigning them in low-cost way for new functions, for example, strengthening existing construction of an old house to transform it into an exhibition hall, changing a fire station to a public stage, etc;
• Collecting waste wood and gray bricks from local building ruins and reusing them for interior decoration and ground paving;
• Using environmentally friendly carbon-fixing materials (bamboo-wood flooring) for bridges, seats, railings;
• Adopting passive instead of active air-conditioning systems. For example, designing a semi-open structure for the public stage, which can maintain a comfortable thermal environment in hot climates;
• Encouraging local craftsmen to participate in constructing process to reduce unnecessary commutes and create jobs.