Urban heritage preservation in China

Two case studies on "Urban heritage preservation in China” by UKNA Scholars from the Tianjin University. Organised by the Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) / the International Institute for Asian Studies.

Programme

15.30 - Introduction to the Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) / Gien San Tan

15.50 - A Case Study of Beihai Park / Chen Chunhong

16.10 – Colour and Lighting / Dang Rui

16.30 - Questions & Answers

17.00 - Drinks at the Brasserie of the Faculty Club

Registration

Please register for this seminar using the form below. Seating is limited. Entrance free

 
Abstracts

Introduction to the Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) by Gien San Tan

The Urban Knowledge Network Asia (UKNA) is a European Union funded research project. Part of Marie Curie Actions, this International Research Staff Exchange Scheme (IRSES) was awarded in 2011 and began in April 2012. It consists of 16 institutes (from the original 13) and more than 100 researchers travelling between Europe, the United States, India and China, all researching the Asian urban environment at doctoral and post-doctoral level.

A Case Study of Beihai Park by Chen Chunhong

Nowadays, the Chinese urbanization process is very fast and the protection of urban heritage faces enormous challenges. Many traditional villages are disappearing, some of the traditional skills are dying. The Chinese government and heritage conservationists are actively seeking a variety of measures to deal with these crises. Faced with a completely different oriental and western urban heritage, Chinese scholars are searching for protective measures to save Chinese heritage. Aiming to provide insight into Chinese urban heritage protection, this report discusses the heritage of the Chinese Beihai Park in combination with an in-depth exploration of effective methods and state-of-the art technology. It may give you a clearer understanding of the laws and status of Chinese heritage protection.

Colour and Lighting by Dang  Rui

Architectural color paintings are a special part of Chinese ancient buildings, and their developmental history goes back more than 2000 years. They are not only present-day forms of art, but also show historical information. The Summer Palace, a World Culture Heritage Site, has the most and best color paintings in China, and are an excellent model of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) color paintings.

However, they are under serious threat because of two reasons. Firstly, daylight and artificial lighting can influence the aesthetic perception of the color paintings, while the rays of light will destroy them so that the color painting will fade and dehisce. Secondly, the color matching of the pigments has always been done by old craftsmen who worked in The Summer Palace for many years, but nowadays there are less and less young people who are willing to study this technology. Consequently, because nobody learns how to make the colors, it is very hard to repair the damaged color paintings when the old craftsmen die. We have solved this problem with some experimental methods and other appliations of modern science and technology. This presentation will attempt to introduce this approach and its effect on heritage preservation.

Biographies

Chen Chunhong

Graduated from Tianjin University of China, Chen Chunhong received a doctor's degree of Engineering and is now working at Tianjin University. Chen undertakes architecture design and architectural history courses. In scientific research, She focus on Architectural history and Architectural archaeology. Involved in the preparation of Chinese national textbook "History of foreign gardens" and Chinese construction design engineering data sets (architectural design data set), in 2013,her research project "Astronomical Characters Research to Chinese Ancient architecture” won the National Natural Science Foundation.

Dang Rui

Graduated from the Tianjin University, Dang Rui  and received a doctor's degree of architecture and has worked at the School of Architecture, Tianjin University, China till now. As a lecturer, he gave some lessons such us “Building Energy Conservation”, “Architecture Physics”, “Green Lighting” for undergraduate and postgraduate. As a scholar, the research directions of him are “the approach to Chinese ancient building preservation”and“energy-saving technology for large-scale public building”. He is taking charge of 5 research projects including “The National Natural Science Fund” and “The National Key Laboratory Science Fund” etc. Besides, he has published 15 articles in academic journals as first author, had 2 international patents, obtained 2 scientific and technological progress awards. At the same time, he has participated in lots of projects of ancient building preservation and building energy conservation.

Inline photo © Canary Wu