798 ART DISTRICT ORCUN TONYALI / MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE IN URBAN DESIGN 2015 - ..................................................................................................................... . ..................................................................................................................... . ..................................................................................................................... . . . BEIJING 798 ART DISTRICT - 62 YEARS OF SARCASM
Transcript
798 ART DISTRICT
O R C U N T O N Y A L I / M A S T E R O F A R C H I T E C T U R E I N U R B A N D E S I G N 2 0 1 5-
U R B A N I Z A T I O N I N T H E E A S T A S I A N R E G I O N / F A L L 2 0 1 4 ’
Beijing 798 Art District
China at Crossroad
In the post WWII years, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) was the protagonist of critical actions that took place in Mainland China. PLA was being led by Mao Zedong and during the Chinese Civil War (1940-1949) there were two sides clashing to take the turmoil under control. Backed by US it was either going to be Chiang Kai-shek’s victory OR Communism would rule the geography under Mao Zedong’s wings. In 1949, Mao Zedong as Communist Party Chairman, proclaimed the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) a new episode in Chinese Politics has started.
Arrival of Communism, �e Birth of Joint Factory 718
Under Mao Zedong’s rule the PLA’s was a vast ground force nevertheless technology and military electronics was scarce in Chinese lands. Trying to �gure a way, Mao has reinforced his relationships with his allies, namely East Germany and SSCB in order to give a start to reforms in Chinese Armed Forces. After negotiations with Chinese delegates completed overseas, Germans (East Germany) agreed to design & build a joint factory for PLA in Beijing in 1952 – this was called ‘Joint Factory 718’. �is exemplary of Bauhaus building expanded and divided into sub-factories, among one in particular was 798 that has given its name to the art district later. �e factory complex has run at its best for about 15 years but Chinese would prove multiple times that 15 years in China is not equal 15 years in elsewhere.
�e Death of the Joint Factory, �e Rise of a New China
After early 1960’s, Mao became a controversial �gure in domestic politics losing his authority and support due to his manage-ment skills in state economics. ‘Great Leap Forward’ has landed where it took o� and ‘Cultural Revolution’ was ‘Cultural Devolution’ as China had little to none graduate between those years hitting the bottom line of its intellect potential. Later Deng – the mastermind behind Chinese Market Economy - would recall those days: “Socialism does not mean shared poverty.”
As there were clear signs, Mao’s imperium didn’t last too long, and the second generation leaders were ready to take over. In 1976, the year Mao died, Deng Xiaoping was highlighted as the new leader of PRC. Just in two years he quickly became the most prominent character in foreign relations of PRC and would later be referred for the initiator of Chinese marriage with the market economy.
$14.5M
Project Cost
Usage
640,000 SQM
Size
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“It doesn't matter whether it's a white cat or a black, I think; a cat that catches mice is a good cat” - Deng Xiaoping
Xiaoping had realized that Chinese overall development would only come with economic achievements. As he rolls out his policies one after another, he also emphasized the role of e�ciency in allocation of economic resources. For that he cut the PLA’s budget as PLA gets ready to transform from a land-based power to a smaller high-tech and mobile one. Simultaneously, 718 Joint Factory which had faced a gradual decline over the years and was eventually rendered obsolete.
Undiscovered Opportunities
Discarded and forgotten, factory site instantly became a decent venue for artists and students considering the a�ordable rents. �e building complex was perfect for creation of art as column-free interiors and high ceilings look like it’s made up for it. Aged and weathered exterior, alleys with varying sizes feels like a neighborhood that is inspirational to all kinds. What stringent central governing didn’t allow for years, now could �ourish organically. It was too much freedom embedded in art released in too little timeframe.
In 1995, Beijing’s Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) set up in the complex �rst. It was the �rst institution who moved and brought many others along. All eyes are on 798 Art District. In 2001, the �rst foreign tenant, Texan Robert Bernell moved in and this caught the foreign press’ attention. Exhibitions continued as tenants arrived one by one in Joint Factory 718 aka 798 Art District. It was the cradle of contemporary Chinese Art now.
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�e Reality of Real Estate
After 70% of factory workers had been laid o� and most sub-factories ceased operations in the late 1970s, the management of the premises was given to a real estate operation called “Seven Star Huadian Science and Technology Group” to keep the vacancy rate at optimum. However, with construction boom in China there is a number of facts that imperil the future of 798 Art District now.
1) In PRC, the land is state-owned and can only be leased for long terms such as 50+ years. �erefore, the developers cannot react as fast if the land is leased before the area has turned to be up and coming.
2) Taking Chinese x-large block sizes and 798’s proximity to CBD into consideration, it equates a vast �oor plates, high rents, an opportunity for Class-A o�ces, and prestigious tenants from a real estate’s point of view.
3) Short-sighted politics don’t seem to underscore the importance of Chinese Art as a unifying power as through art, people around the world speak one language and communicate. Which, indeed, is visible by the number of visitors per year and soaring tourism economy in Beijing. Scared of central authority, the central government cannot risk to allegedly support any sorts of free expression.
4) Since 2006, the speed of construction of Beijing Summer Olympics Games has accelerated, increasing the rents even higher. �e local district government who took control of the development also developed a plan for 798 District raising the rents twice as much by investing another $25M.
With commercialization of art in region, the complex now reportedly have been transformed from a center for art creation to a place where only corporate art galleries and design companies can a�ord.In short, dynamics of greenback is two-edged sword in China. Anything can be annihilated by the same reasons they existed.
LOCATION DIAGRAM
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5
10km
798
ACTIVE HOURS
24/7
VISITORS
800,000/year
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On July 2001, the Olympic Games were awarded to Beijing at the time 798 Art District was not yet famous. But following 3 years bring global anchors to 798 and what began as a small collection of studios and other work spaces has now evolved into the third most visited destination in Beijing in 2004. As if not enough, Xu and Huang, two of the zone’s pioneers, organized Dashanzi International Art Festival in 2004 to even improve the district’s visibility that ended up with the inevitable: 798 was going to be the SoHo of Beijing.
Not too late after 2004, the district faced destruction in the name of progress. �e government considered the factory buildings as a low density waste of space in a city that needed to build vertically.
Sasaki Plan
Hoping to turn the district into revenue generator, Sasaki was commisioned to prepare the plans for 798 District, which was completed in 2006. Sasaki’s work ,however, took a di�erent approach, less aggresive than expected. �e plan kept essential qualities of historic industrial aesthetic as well as developed strategies to improve connections to the city. To achieve that Sasaki Team implemented new creative programmes such as media, advertising, architecture, fashion design, animation, and software design that goes beyond simply preserving the existing. But Sasaki’s plan that suggests progressive development and smoother transition haven’t been realized as Beijing Summer Olmypics approached.
Beijing Summer Olympics, a dis-Plan
$42BN. for two-and-a-half-week-event, Beijing Summer Olympic 2008 is the second most expensive Olympics after Sochi. On one side, it improved roads, telecomes, and subway lines, on the other side it is a huge debt that China couldn’t comprehend due to their soaring economic environment. Overall, it’s a great deal of money spent for branding, and the worst marketing strategy option in hindsight regarding a collection of unused sports facilities with few if any plans for reuse.
Beijing Olympics o�cials approached the 2008 Games as an opportunity to host the world's biggest sporting event, not to create infrastructure of permanent importance. But after all, what is the damage? Well, someone has to pay the check and we know who.
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Last Few Years1. �e Art of Censorship
As China proceeds after Olympic Games the stringent, shady, opaque laws are more being used as an instrument of arbitrary whim, and of constant intimidation. Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist and activist, was beaten up in 2009 and has been under close scrunity for his e�ort to reveal people’s names who died in 2008 Suchian earthquake. in 2011, Zhao Zhao another dissenting artist, whose work was con�scated before it was shipped to be exhibited in one of New York’s Gallery and he was �ned $50,000 for violating ‘tax evasion’ law. All concluded that, the art is one color and one language in Chinese context today, the Chinese avant-garde is conservative. But why again?
2. Real Estate is a Delicate Job
A decade after 798 changed into a trendy district for galleries, boutiques and o�ces, Beijing’s famed 798 art district now faces another transformation: into an upscale luxury and cultural area. Bungalows in the art district now will be replaced by skyscrap-ers,” project general manager Wang Jianjun says. He also added “It will be the biggest art centre in China with the best service.”
�e Beijing Municipal Government signed an agreement with Melco International Development Company to establish and international cultural art centre on late 2012. Wang said that the $8BN. project will have around 1.2 million sq. m of space and be located within and near the current 798 boundaries. Designed by I.M. Pei’s son Li Chung Pei, the project will include a “laser stage”, a “primitive art community”, a gallery, a luxury hotel and apartments, and facilities to examine and trade art.
Graphics IM PEI, 30 YEARS OBSOLESCENCE MEDAL KURSUSU, 1,2,3, SASAKI LOGO VEYA BIR SEYSI.
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References
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