In 2005, UNESCO listed "Macao Historic District" as a world cultural heritage in the World Heritage List. Macao architect Zhang Queqiao participated in the whole process of applying for the World Heritage. In a "one seat" speech held not long ago, he told us the story of Macao’s cultural heritage protection.
Cultural relics buildings are very fragile, easily affected by wind and rain, and more easily influenced by human activities. However, when you make such a shabby building "alive" and hand it over from your hands to the next generation, you will have an indescribable sense of happiness. This kind of happiness will turn into a kind of motivation to support you to go on, so all the efforts are very worthwhile.
—— Zhangque Bridge
■ Zhangque Bridge
Macao architecture combining Chinese and western cultures.
If you have been to Macao, you must know that there are many cultural relics in Macao. In Macau city walk, you will see an old building when you walk. However, most of the old buildings you see are churches, forts and temples. Today, I will introduce some relatively small buildings to you.
For example, Gao’s mansion, which is Gao Kening’s mansion. It looks like a western-style building from the outside, but inside it is an authentic traditional Chinese layout and decoration.
He Dong Library, which also looks like a Western-style building, but a closer look shows that these Western-style columns are decorated with Chinese patterns. There are also some buildings that use western-style pillars to support Chinese roofs.
There is also Lujia Mansion, which is a traditional Chinese building, but if you look closely, you will find that its windows, from lintels to shutters and shell windows, are all influenced by western architecture.
These Chinese and western buildings can be seen everywhere in Macao.
The total area of Macao is about 33.3 square kilometers, of which 3.1 square kilometers belong to the scope of cultural relics construction or protection, especially in the Macao Peninsula, where the cultural relics are the densest and the population is the most concentrated. Therefore, the contradiction between the demand of space development and the protection of cultural relics is very prominent.
Now it seems that many cultural relics in Macao are well protected, but in fact, they have been devastated by years before they were restored.
I have been working in Macao for more than 20 years, and I have been engaged in the protection of cultural relics and architectural heritage since I graduated from university. Before the return of Macao, I worked with the Portuguese to repair buildings, mainly to restore the appearance of the buildings, and rarely involved the interior. After the reunification, we fully assumed the responsibility of cultural relics protection, from the restoration of the exterior and interior of the building to the transformation and reuse of cultural relics buildings.
The practice of more than 20 years has made us know that the protection and sustainable utilization of cultural relics buildings is not an easy task. Today, I will share with you a few cases of renovation and protection of cultural relics that I have participated in.
The longest-restored cultural relics in Macao
Let’s talk about the Zhengjiadawu first.
I have a lot of fate with this building. When I was a child, I lived 200 meters away from it and passed it every day. But at that time, I didn’t know that this building was originally the former residence of Zheng Guanying, a modern thinker. His book "The Prophecy of Prosperity" once influenced Sun Yat-sen and Kang Youwei.
Zheng’s house was built by Zheng Guanying’s father from about 1859, and then his brothers slowly expanded around. At present, Zheng’s house retains an area of about 4,000 square meters. Its main building area is a traditional courtyard building in Lingnan, but many places are influenced by western culture, including some columns, ceilings and windows. This building is very famous, but it was very dilapidated before it was repaired.
In the 1920s, the descendants of the Zheng family went out to develop, and the big house began to be sublet. In the forties and fifties of the 20th century, due to the war in the mainland, many people suddenly poured into Macao, and 400,000 people lived in the area of 4 square kilometers in the main city. At that time, many rooms and halls in Zheng’s mansion became? Rooms (note: a room is divided into several small rooms with partitions, and the living area is small, and the rent is usually cheaper), which was once subletted to 72 tenants and lived for two or three hundred people. Under the overload, the building was greatly damaged. ? There is not enough room, and many illegal buildings have been built on the rooftop and garden.
In 2001, the government reclaimed the Zheng family mansion by replacing the land, and I participated in the reception work. At that time, the Zheng family mansion was in ruins, and my heart was very heavy. In fact, the Zhengjia Mansion was appraised as a cultural relic building in 1992. If it can be repaired earlier, it will not become so shabby.
After the Zheng family mansion was recovered, people were very happy and hoped that it could be repaired immediately. At that time, we were under great pressure, because it was the first time that we were faced with such a large-scale restoration project of cultural relics, and the restoration was very difficult.
I remember, before the reunification, I participated in the restoration project of the only dome church in Macao. At that time, the brick dome cracked and the structure was unstable, but in order to repair it before the reunification, the brick dome was replaced by a concrete structure. I felt very sorry and sad when I saw that the blue brick dome wall was smashed by a hammer. So I told myself that the restoration of Zheng’s mansion should be done step by step.
From 2001 to 2009, it took us eight years to repair the Zheng family mansion, and every step was very careful. This is a cultural relic building that has been restored for the longest time in Macao.
Cultural relics buildings pay attention to "repairing the old as the old"
At that time, it took nearly a year to clean up the garbage. Because we are not only cleaning up garbage, but also "treasure hunting". In the garbage, you can find many components of old buildings, such as bricks, tiles, wooden components and so on. This job is not easy. When cleaning up the garbage, we are always ashamed. Once, my colleague was questioned by the police.
After cleaning up the garbage, we made a field survey of the whole environment and recorded where it was destroyed and where it was missing. Why do you have to go to the scene to do these jobs? Because cultural relics buildings pay attention to "repairing the old as the old", they should use the original technology and old materials to restore the original space and appearance of the building. Therefore, it is very important to distinguish its original appearance. We can’t judge its previous appearance just by taking it for granted, but we must verify its authenticity on the spot.
Let me give you an example. The Zheng family mansion has a straight sedan chair. When the car was received, it was very shabby and I didn’t know what it was like. Many people say that the Zheng family is very rich, and the platform must be paved with more exquisite stone. I asked: So where did the stone go? They said it might have been stolen. I find it strange that such a heavy stone is unlikely to be stolen. After careful search, we finally found some rammed earth under the two walls of the sedan chair. After comparison, we confirmed that this is the original platform. This is a common practice in Macao. So, we resurfaced the platform according to the formula of rammed earth.
Another place, according to an old man who once lived in a big house, saw a round doorway in front of him when he was a child. I think he is right, because the word "Leave the Moon" is written on the back wall. According to the traditional architectural culture of China, there should be a circular doorway in front of this wall. But how big is this doorway? Fortunately, we found several arc-shaped stones on the ground of the garden. After comparison, it was confirmed that they were the arch wall stones of the Moon Cave Gate, so we rebuilt the Moon Cave Gate according to the radian of the stones.
But not all places can find evidence to repair it. Like the Moon Cave Gate in Wenchang Hall, we vaguely see a pair of couplets on both sides of the doorway, in which two words are missing: "Now it’s yin and yang, borrow the attic to support the sky." We found a word "He" from an old photo and added it. What is the last word of "Yin and Yang are now combined, borrowing the attic to support the sky"? Some people say that "heaven" should be opposite to "earth". It is also said that Zheng Guanying should believe in Taoism, and Yin and Yang are one, and "one" is right. Because there was no evidence, we finally chose to leave it blank.
Everyone saw that many places still looked very broken after being repaired, so some people said that we didn’t do a good job. In fact, when we were restoring the Zheng family mansion, many places were mainly reinforced, and more were used to show its historical development process. Repairing the old as the old is not only to restore the building to its original appearance, but also to leave traces of time in the process of building evolution.
At that time, every household had a gatekeeper (the god of gatekeepers). We can see that the words "Wangxiangtang" written above the gate were printed by computer and pasted up, which is obviously a modern handwriting. We carefully cut the parts of these words with a scalpel, and found that there were 13 layers in them, indicating that it had been changed at least 13 times. In fact, we can technically shovel out all the words that were later covered and leave the original appearance, but we didn’t do that. Because we feel that architecture bears the flow of people, emotions and social changes, and these 13-layer words truly record the vicissitudes of life, so we finally kept it.
And ever built? The floor tiles in the hall of the room were very shabby and uneven. At that time, there were a dozen people living in a few square meters, which was the humble abode at that time. We have also preserved this history completely.
We try to use all the old materials we can, and if we need to make new ones, we will distinguish the old and new parts. For example, wood components are distinguished by color, and the darker ones are newly made. Old marks carved on doors and windows and mottled repair marks on external walls have also been preserved.
The Root-seeking Journey of Chinese and Western Medicine Bureau
Someone asked me: A cultural relic building has undergone so many changes. What should it be restored to? Personally, I feel that while the main space, style and style of the building are well preserved, it is very important to properly protect the traces in the development process, even the archaeological remains of the surrounding environment when the building was first built should be preserved and protected as much as possible.
The Bureau of Chinese and Western Medicine is such an example.
It is said that the Bureau of Chinese and Western Medicine was opened in 1892 when Sun Yat-sen came to Macao to practice medicine. Sun Yat-sen graduated from Hong Kong College of Western Medicine and was the first Chinese medical practitioner. At that time, he volunteered to give doctors at the Bureau of Chinese and Western Medicine, and did not accept medical fees to serve the poor people in Macao. In 2011, the government of Macao Special Administrative Region bought back the Bureau of Chinese and Western Medicine, and prepared to build it into an exhibition hall to show Sun Yat-sen’s life.
The house was also in disrepair before it was repaired. When we were repairing the gate, we found that there seemed to be handwriting on the wall. We slowly peeled off the wall, and found that it was written with the words "Drinking Fragrant Fairy Pavilion". We suspect that it may have been an opium den at first.
We also found a strange thing when we were repairing the building, that is, there was a well in the house. Wells are usually outdoors. Why is there a well here? We found some rubble foundations next to the well. Finally, according to the argument of colleagues majoring in archaeology, this may be an old pier site. Macao is a place built by sea reclamation. This site witnessed the passage of the coastline of Macao during the process of sea reclamation, which is a very important discovery.
Then, we found some rubble foundations indoors, and many "Clark Porcelain" tiles, that is, China blue-and-white porcelain exported, which proved that Macau was an important node of the Maritime Silk Road.
In 2016, when the Chinese and Western Medicine Bureau completed the restoration and opened it to the public, we also showed these archaeological discoveries together. We used modern language to design stairs connecting up and down to show archaeological sites and discoveries, making this old house more lively and rich.
In fact, cultural relic architecture is not static, it is dynamic, and the content given to it by each era will become one of its connotations. We can also carry out new architectural design in old buildings and old environments, but the key is to respect its own value.
The Extension Project of Hedong Library
The way to rebuild the Bureau of Chinese and Western Medicine is to integrate modern languages into the original environment. I once did an expansion project in Hedong Library, and I used the same method.
Hedong Library was originally a European-style building built in the early 19th century, which is a typical garden-style luxury residence. Later, Mr. He Dong, a wealthy businessman, bought it and turned it into his residence in Macau. His descendants donated money to buy many books, making this building a library for collecting Chinese books.
When I was in middle school, the school happened to be nearby, and I often read in this library for two or three hours at a time. The front garden here is very beautiful and quiet. The back garden was not very open at that time, and the impression was very mysterious. Unexpectedly, a few years later, I have the opportunity to expand this library. Why do you want to expand? After the return of Macao, there are more and more readers, and the government pays more attention to culture and education. In order to increase the reading space, it is necessary to expand the library.
When I made the design, I set three principles for myself: first, the new building can’t be antique, and it can’t be old and new; Second, the new building cannot exceed the height of the old building; Third, we must respect the inherent value of old buildings.
After careful consideration, I decided to build the new building on the side of the old building and put the atrium between the old and new buildings. I want to emphasize that we must enter from the old building to the new building. This is an inherited relationship.
Let me show you around: there is a beautiful front garden at the door, and then enter the tall old building. After a short and narrow staircase, I came to the open and bright atrium. Finally, it passes through the overhead floor of the new building and enters the back garden. When many people come to the library, they will find the spatial relationship between high and low interesting, especially when they enter the atrium from the very short old stairs, and they feel different.
We use the simplicity of modern language to set off the richness of classical language, and the light glass contrasts with the thick wall, which has a different charm.
Let the old buildings "live" with a new look
Finally, I want to talk about Shalitou Library. This example is special because it is not a cultural relic building.
I once saw many distinctive buildings in Macao slowly disappearing, which was a great pity, so we made a list of distinctive buildings in Macao, hoping to preserve these buildings as soon as possible through cooperation and find opportunities to evaluate them as cultural relics and protect them. Shalitou Library is one of them.
There used to be seven arcade buildings here, which were built by the sea before. Because they were not cultural relics at that time, they could be demolished according to the plan and built into buildings more than 20 meters high. However, arcade is a distinctive architectural style for Macao. At that time, all the streets here were arcades, and these seven were the last ones. We want to keep the last flavor of this street.
However, the decision is in the hands of the owner, and we can’t force him to protect the building, so we will talk to him about whether we can cooperate. We propose to rent these seven buildings and pay for their restoration to make them into a library. Upon hearing this, the owner expressed support.
The fa? ades of these seven arcades have been preserved. We hope to turn the original space into a library. However, the drilling report poured cold water on us. The engineer said that this place was originally a sea reclamation, and the foundation was very unstable. The two floors have already subsided, so they should be demolished except the facade.
We asked him to do something again anyway. The engineer thought with us for a long time, and finally found a way to keep three of the arcades and re-structure the others. Finally, this layout was formed: there is an atrium in the middle and two buildings with the same volume, one new and one old, on both sides. All the leftmost buildings are preserved, including the old stairs, walls and columns. We also kept some production tools and machinery in the original shop. The new building on the right is relatively simple, with the simplest decoration to set off the old building.
Atrium is the focus of design. We made a container design in the atrium, because it used to serve the wharf, and we wanted to express our nostalgia for the old building. Through the large transparent glass in the atrium, new buildings can be seen in the old buildings, and the old and new spaces are integrated. Stairs and ramps are arranged around the atrium, and unconsciously there is a feeling of time and space shuttle. We also put the repaired old materials and components on the walls of the new building.
At the end of the project, one day, I stood on the rooftop and found that I could see the sea in the distance. These arcades used to be by the sea, but now they are far away from the sea after gradual reclamation. I had a brainwave and asked my colleagues to open a window on the rooftop, reshaping its previous relationship with the sea. This window is called "Eye of the Inner Harbor".
Shalitou Library is very popular after its completion, and it is brightly lit every night.
Cultural relics buildings are very fragile, easily affected by wind and rain, and more easily influenced by human activities. However, when you make such a shabby building "alive" and hand it over from your hands to the next generation, you will have an indescribable sense of happiness. This kind of happiness will turn into a kind of motivation to support you to go on, so all the efforts are very worthwhile.
(ten thousand leaves finishing)
