Dongbei Renaissance

Shenyang, China

Photo © Wang Hongyue

Dong Mao Ku used to be a large storage and transportation hub in Shenyang built in the 1950s. Its remaining warehouse architecture was recently included in the city’s list of historic buildings. With the adjacent power plant to be relocated soon, the area of Dong Mao Ku will be developed into a new residential neighborhood, while the preserved warehouses are to be properly renovated as public space for the local community with renewed functions. The mural project is part of this warehouse renovation scheme with the aim to create some attraction for the new neighborhood. DAS’ inspirations for creating the mural came from the culture boom in Dongbei and also the architecture and fresco art from the Renaissance era in Italy.

Photo © Drawing Architecture Studio

Dongbei has always been renowned as the base of heavy industry of China. But with the industrial transformation following the reform and opening-up policy in recent couple of decades, it has witnessed an economic downturn and the loss of population. Contrary to its bleak economic development, there has been a booming development in the cultural world in Dongbei. Based on local life, many writers and artists from the area have created literature, movies, dramas, and music that became nation-wide famous. Since a couple of years ago, the term “Dongbei Renaissance” has become popular in the cultural world to describe such a phenomenon in Dongbei.

Photo © Drawing Architecture Studio

The word “Renaissance” is naturally reminiscent of the Renaissance era in Italy in the history of art and architecture. The public buildings in the Renaissance are always featured with layered façade and exterior decoration by relief or material collage; while their interior walls are often covered by frescos presenting spectacular scenes. It was also from the Renaissance, the depiction of the frescos started to shift from the religious figures to average people in the secular life. As the original appearance of the gable wall of the warehouse at Dong Mao Ku reminded DAS of the façade of basilica architecture in the Renaissance, DAS decided to revive the tradition of Renaissance frescos on the exterior of the warehouse, depicting local people’s colorful life in the theme of Dongbei Renaissance.

Photo © Wang Hongyue

The design of the mural is divided into two layers. As the extension of the original pilasters on the gable wall, some wooden frames are drawn as the first layer to simulate architectural structure. Such a mixture of real and fake structures gives the overall composition a strong visual framework, which can also find its origin in the Renaissance fresco. The second layer of the mural comprises of 34 individual drawings of various dimensions, inserted into the framework. The contents of those drawings include several subjects: historic landmarks of Shenyang, the city’s industrial heritage, and well-known venues related to literature, entertainment, local lifestyle that are involved in some representative works of Dongbei Renaissance. All the details depicted in the drawings are based on the observation from the real life in Dongbei.

Photo © Wang Hongyue

Mural framework mixed with real and fake structures

Photo © Wang Hongyue

Following the idea of finding new functions for those preserved warehouses , DAS takes the interiors of the warehouses as a series of stages to showcase different highlights of life in Dongbei: the Warehouse of Literature portrays some of the most popular bookstores and libraries in the city; the Warehouse of Entertainment is a large performance center in which local Er Ren Zhuan (a song-and-dance duet popular in Northeast China), rock-and-roll, comedy artists exhibit their talents; and the Warehouse of Gourmet shows the lively scenes from local barbecue restaurants and night markets.

Drawing © Drawing Architecture Studio

Warehouse of Entertainment

Drawing © Drawing Architecture Studio

Warehouse of Gourmet

Drawing © Drawing Architecture Studio

Dongbei is famous for its bath culture. Local public bathhouses function more like venues for social life where people can have both business and leisure gatherings. The cooling towers at the existing power plant will soon be demolished, but DAS imagines one of the towers as a multi-floor bathhouse, with scenes depicting from the actual local bathhouses. Another cooling tower is transformed into an ice park where people enjoy all kinds of winter sports, which is also what Dongbei is famous for.

Photo © Wang Hongyue

Cooling Tower as Ice Park

Photo © Wang Hongyue

The old workers’ villages (apartments allocated to workers) and abandoned factories in reality have lost their glamour, becoming the imprints of the city’s decline. While in the drawings, they have regained their vitality. Workers go back to their clean and beautiful home after another day of proud work. Machines in the factories run at full speed to contribute to the country’s industrial development. Behind the joyful scenes hide the harsh life changes a generation has experienced due to the economic transformation.

Drawing © Drawing Architecture Studio

Factory

Drawing © Drawing Architecture Studio

Photo © Wang Hongyue

The warehouse covered with the mural stands on the construction site, looking just like one of those buildings that imitate European architecture in a Chinese city. It is surrounded by new apartments built behind, construction fences with photos of forests, and a new beautiful garden for the neighborhood. Everything seems to hint a promising new life.

Photo © Wang Hongyue

Art + Installation + Exhibition

Architects: Drawing Architecture Studio

Location: Shenyang, China
Year: 2021
Team: Li Han / Hu Yan / Zhang Xintong / Zhang Yuanbo / Sun Tianzhi / Wu Junxi / Li Shiyan / Tao Xuanshu / Li Fengming / Ma Shuyuan / Luo Yuanjia / Yi Yanqi / Li Gezi / Tang Xinyu / Xu Xiaoxuan

Dongbei Renaissance is a mural project Drawing Architecture Studio completed at Dong Mao Ku, the city of Shenyang, Liaoning Province, as a commission by China Resources Lands Limited for its real estate project. Through the mural, DAS transforms the gable wall of an old warehouse into a Renaissance-basilica-like façade, with lively portrayal of different aspects of social life in Dongbei (a term collectively refers to 3 provinces in Northeast China: Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang).

Such a direct copy from foreign architectural styles is always despised by professional architects, but is usually liked by the public because it brings a sense of detachment from their familiar daily life. In this particular mural project, DAS would like to confront the copy culture and look for deeper connections between different cultural references. The content of Dongbei Renaissance is inspired by the cultural phenomenon of the same name, but the completed mural is more a celebration of local people’s optimistic attitude towards life regardless of the difficulties in reality, which is also the true spirit behind those Dongbei Renaissance works. Transforming the gable wall of a warehouse in China into a Renaissance-basilica-like façade may have no significance from a serious academic point of view in architecture. But as a piece conceived with the intention to bring new excitement to a historic construction and created for the general public, the significance of this project may lie in the power of image in the transformation of space and emotional connections that the image can generate between the viewer and itself.