New ideas of the protection in historic buildings with the surroundings

1 2,* Zhou Jiang , Nana Wang 1 Jinling College Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P. R. China ,210089 [email protected] 2 College of Art and Design, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, P. R. China ,211800 [email protected] *Corresponding author

Keywords: historic buildings; protection of the surroundings; new ideas; overall protection

Abstract. After the simply introduction of , we made a definition of the surroundings of the historic building. Furthermore, we analyzed four reasons of the necessity of the overall protection of historic building and its surroundings; and we illustrated three new methods of the overall protection. Finally, we draw a conclusion that we must make overall protection on historic buildings and its surroundings; moreover, we need accumulate experience in the process in order to spread history wealth.

Introduction As the urban construction is developing in nearly each country, how to deal with the impact city construction has made on the heritage has been an emergent and important problem. On October 21 of 2005, the 15the conference of International Council On Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) published an important agreement named . The core of this conference is to advice all countries to intensify the protection of historic buildings, cultural relics together with surroundings. The publication of this declaration is of great practice meaning because it will supply methods, suggestion, and instruction for evaluation, management and protection of the heritage environment. In other words, it became a powerful policy and law for the consistent and effective protection. In the declaration, historic building is defined as the old buildings, heritages and its surroundings which may influence the identity and importance or may be a part of its identity and importance. Besides the comprehension from entity and viewpoint, the surrounding also includes the relation with the natural environment, the knowledge from the society and spirit practice in the current and ancient times, or other forms of non-material heritage, and the developing environment of culture, society and economy. Up to now, the protection in China has been confined in the protection of the heritage itself which is emphasized on the mend and reinforcement of the building’s main structure in order to make the building look as its original appearance. However, the management and protection of the surroundings have been ignored. One crucial reason, I think, is that no matter one is a scholar or an officer, or just a citizen, he or she regards this protection as a simple and single measure on the building or heritage. Simply put, everyone thinks that protecting heritage is to make the building in a good condition. Luckily, as people is becoming more and more concentrated on the importance of surroundings, treating buildings and its surroundings as a whole, and making unified planning and protection has been accepted in the filed. analysis on the necessity of protection on heritage surroundings City is an organism which has a unique rule in birth, developing and declining. The surroundings of the cultural relic involve things which are plane or three-dimensional, natural or manual, dynamic or static, corporeal or intangible. All these things, as the heritage itself, are both the outcome of the history and the carrier of the history. Although, due to the abrasion in a so long period, these surroundings have always been destroyed, they have had their own value. The unity composed of surroundings and buildings has reflected comprehensive situation in policy, economy, culture, art, science, religion, custom and so on in a special historical period. Furthermore, in the process of history, this unity has also carried much other information during its development. Heritage is the carrier of history, so it will be a single specimen without surroundings. The energy of city comes from the development of the society, especially in politics, economy and technique. On the other hand, all construction in the city is the carrier of the city activity, among which the most kinetic factor is the city life of citizens who are taking different part in the whole society. As a result, the protection of the heritage should not only concentrate on the building itself. History and humanity should not be ignored. What we must do is to investigate the evolving process of the city, study how the city structure is adapting to and conflicting with the social structure. Moreover, based on those investigations, we study the need of the social progress and the subject which is to be inherited and developed. City is an organism which is always moving and changing. Its speed is different at different times, but it is changing quickly when there is social transformation. Since the reform and opening, cities in China have grown a lot. However, under the flourishing buildings, to those old cities which own many historical heritages, these constructions may threat the environment of heritages. If this danger is ignored, this precious fortune will eventually be destroyed. Therefore, on one hand, we must admit this absolute change; on the other hand, we must keep historical heritance in this change in order to keep city’s character and activity. In order to study the impersonal rule of protecting, we should not only study the style and appearance of the old city, but also study the tactic and target. The aim is to explore a harmonious joint of economic development and heritage protection. This measure involves developing the traditional industry which reflects the characteristic of old city, confining certain economic factors which damage the original style. Especially, construction should confirm the natural law which orders a careful and elaborate project not a too large building. This is also of great importance to the district which have history heritages in the city. Of course, some special places or some destroyed places which damage the whole view of district can be rebuilt or updated to be consistent with its surroundings. In most cases, most old cities can take the method of updating small scale stage by stage. This is a reliable measure because it will not break the history and not disturb the whole society. Moreover, this puts smaller economic burden on the government. Furthermore, this will help store its character. In fact, practices in Europe have proved this way. Historic buildings cannot be naked; they must be dressed These historic buildings have erected in the world for a long period and therefore they have spiritualism as human at some extent. A historic building without surroundings is just like a naked person who is not able to exist in this world; a historic building which lacks its environment as basement is just like a person without clothing living in a cultured society which is going to elapse. In a modern world, historic buildings without surroundings will lose its necessary and basic protection; at last, its life will be deprived by modern buildings. Dressing up the historic buildings is one of the most important and emergent tasks of protection. It is also the basic need of buildings because planning a protecting domain and mending its structure are to give a relaxing and growing space for historic buildings. It is possible that historic buildings can be inherited and kept healthily in this way. large-scale reconstruction and development in cities has threatened existence of historic buildings Although some cities have established protection plan about historic building, it is difficult for old buildings to resist strike from modern constructions. Because of the exciting profit and lack of policy, many buildings with surroundings have been in a dangerous situation in some cities. Moreover, some have been destroyed completely. Taking Nanjing as an example, thousands of phoenix tree have been cut down; Jinsha Well and Large Baihua Xiang district which is included in 1992 was damaged; old districts which was from Ming and Qing Dynasty before 600 years are also destroyed. In order to build roads, Walls from Ming Dynasty have been broken at many sites. It is possible that this will bring economic profit for the city, however, the style and view of this city has been also broken. As everyone knows, historical city’s value is defined at its unity which involves not only important historic heritages but also historical districts composed by traditional communities. The conditions tell us that protecting historic buildings together with its surroundings is emergent. historic building with the surroundings is the carrier of special historical information, and as a passenger in the history, people have no right to break the continuity The area of a historic building may be small, but its surroundings may be wide enough. They together become the carrier of special historical information and give birth to the characteristic living style and humanity atmosphere. This unity composed by historic buildings with the surroundings is passed from one generation to another like a baton. Moreover, just under this environment, citizens living in every period strived together and finally created the culture of this city. A city is a carrier of material which is progressing forward and will never stop. Compared with the history of a city, citizen living in it is just a passenger; compared with the life of a city, the life cycle of a generation is ephemeral and limited. So, not only material heritage, but also historic buildings with the surroundings are fruits of many people and fortune form ancestors. When the baton has been passed to us, we must take history and future seriously and make effort to protect historic buildings and the surroundings. What we do is to pass this commune fortune to our offspring, to reflect the idea of sustainable development, to reveal the thought of getting along with history harmoniously. We must remember: as a passenger in the history, people have no right to break the continuity. new ideas in protecting historic buildings and the surroundings change previous ideas, take positive measures We have been confined in a small field in protecting historic buildings; in other words, we just think how to keep buildings in a safe condition. But, as modern society is progressing quickly forward, a lot of new problems have come up. For example, the environment of historic buildings has been eroded by concrete buildings. As a result, if we persist on those old ideas, these historic buildings will disappear. We must take a dynamic and changing view of historic buildings. Protection must be transferred from negative to positive. Because the condition is always changing, it is important to estimate and forecast the future; to some special sites, we must take measures to demarcate a domain for them and enact relating laws to prevent them from being broken. combine the protection of historic buildings and the protection of traditional living style To make an old city to be a historic city, original appearance of history culture in that city must be preserved and traditional living style is also be preserved. Otherwise, if there are only old buildings standing there and no real person taking part in it, it is apparent that this city is lack of activity and energy. No matter who a person is, he or she must supply convenience for people living in old city. On the other hand, citizens in old city should live in a historical cultural environment and enjoy modern life in traditional alleyways. Therefore, we must bring activity and energy into a traditional city. The history has proved that when new technique has solved original problems, it always engenders new problems. So, we must take effective use of technique. In 21 century, we has strived to achieve our goals: make technique be consistent with protection of cultural heritages, make city be a harmonious carrier of history, current and future. For example, Shanghai has been suffering large-scale reconstruction. A lot of alleyways are destroyed everyday. However, alleyways which have survived are still spreading in this city and present their own charisma. Alleyway in Shanghai has appeared in 1850s and became a sign of houses in 1930s. Hundreds of stone gates are arranged side by side and constitutes a large group of houses. The intervals between gates have formed a narrow and shady passage which is named as alleyway by Shanghai citizens. The static shows that there are about 3000 square meters alleyways where more than 2000,000 people are living. But as the project which is aimed to create a new city, improve the living condition of resident, rebuild the old city has been take, alleyways of Shanghai have disappeared. The government has investigated citizens thought and referred to other cities. After that, the government decided to protect alleyways under the precondition of improving living condition. Some houses which are broken or have no significance will be removed. Other houses will be altered to be an independent unity with washing room and kitchen or be an entertainment site. For example, Shanghai Xintiandi which is a slap-up site with history, culture, tour, commercial and entertainment is rebuilt from stone gates. These modern equipments are arranged in a stone gate building, but its appearance is just like an old house. Just because of the alleyway, stone walls, special gates and traditional decorations, Shanghai Xintiandi has attracted a great many tourists everyday. As an expert on alleyways building, Xiaowei Luo has agreed to this measure which involves removing, rebuilding and keeping. She says that building is a running history. Reading alleyways in Shanghai is to read the history of Shanghai and people living in Shanghai. However, building in a city is destined to change as time elapses. The value of protecting alleyways is beyond the value of protecting the building itself. A more important thing is that by preserving traditional living style, the history and charm of this city can be passed on. government is the principal part in the protection and takes the measure of “preserving crucial parts and abnegating small parts” The government is the principal part of putting those protecting policies in practice. The government must take positive and effective measures to protect cultural relics. Currently, some cities have pay attention to the heritages and got some success. As a result, other cities have imitated those cities because people have realized that cultural relics are not conflicting with developing economy. Nevertheless, this may accelerate the economy in the long run. For example, Nanjing World Historical and Cultural Cities Expo were held in 2006. And before that, the Ming Xiao mausoleum also became World Cultural Heritage as an extensive project of Ming and Qing Emperor mausoleum. New government have realized the important meaning of protecting cultural heritage and realized the economic profit form protection. So, leaders of government have suggested building Nanjing as a city with culture character but not a concrete forest. Since old buildings together with surroundings are widely spread, we must take the measure of “preserving crucial parts and abnegating small parts”. In other words, we should concentrate on some main history district, pay attention to buildings which have important history meaning such as former residences of celebrities in order to present those significant historical views of different period to tourists. For example, before 2005, Xi’an had three samples of success: the protection of Dayan Tower; the protection of circumvallation; the protection of Daming palace (618-907) relic. These three sites with their surroundings are significant historical views which are typical of Xi’an long history. Moreover, they have great importance to the history and humanity of Xi’an. Therefore, these samples are success use of that policy taken in the protection process. The emphasis on the protection of historic buildings has also been presented in the development plan in the next 50 years of Xi’an. The government has made determination to stop new building projects in the core district of old city. This policy which is to remove and not to add has been praised by the leader of State cultural and relics bureau. The policy of “take different measures on old or new buildings” is to move newly built construction from the old city and make old district keep its original appearance. This policy has been proved by some success: it is effective in developing a new city and preserving an old city. And therefore, other cities especially those having some heritages can consider this way in their protection and development. take the policy of “keeping the original appearance and storing the fortune in citizens”; explore market ways to solve confliction Besides some historic buildings which have extremely high fame, what consist of a large proportion of the city are all kinds of old houses. Regarding to these houses, we must take consideration of the current situation and explore market ways to solve confliction. For example, Nanjing had held a public removing hearing about Gongguan district on the Yihe road recently. This meeting has attracted many citizens. And, some experts at the meeting have considered buildings of the Republic of China are history and culture resources which is a kind of communal resource. They should be owned by the public not a small amount of people. Nowadays, some cities have made the most meaningful part of the building into a museum which allows people to visit and know relating history and culture. On the other hand, the rest part will be left for people to live in order to leave the building in a natural condition which can reflect traditional and characteristic custom. Gulangyu Island of Xiamen is a best example of this way. 90% of the buildings are for people to live in and some of them are mended to be different museums such as piano museum and some house where famous person have lived such as Lin Qiaozhi and Lin Yutang. In such way, historic buildings are given new activity and energy, and given a safer surviving space. Furthermore, these antiques are protected effectively and traditional custom are spread widely. We can say that it has brought many merits for both the historic buildings and society. In the process exploring market ways to solve confliction, the government should manage what the role it is playing in this progress. It should not make the historic buildings become excessive commercial and vulgar because this will influence the authenticity and reliability of passing historical information. This behavior is a blasphemy of the history and culture and is extremely irresponsible of the history and culture. On the 2nd cross-strait Chinese culture forum, Gong Pengcheng who is a famous scholar from Taiwang has criticized some extreme behaviors in the exploration of culture and travel resources. He took Zhouzhuang which is applying for world Culture Heritage as an example. It is a simple and peaceful fishing village formerly, but currently, outside those old buildings, each street has become a super market in which everyone is selling a kind of famous dish named “Shenwansan Tibang”. Though this is a very delicious food, when each shop is selling greasy food, the tourists will get sick. Actually, this thing happens in many sights. In most cases, best places near the important historic buildings are taken by shops which are for tourists to consume. Because the walls of old buildings are often broken to build shops by the roadside, many travelers who are going to visit the heritage eventually go to the restaurants. To solve this problem, we may study the foreign experience from Europe. For example, in Europe, there is always no commerce or entertainment near those cultural or historical buildings. Sometimes, there is a small book shop which supplies maps or instruction books and tourists always bring food by themselves. In a world, the successful experience is a good sample and model for our country to study in protecting historic buildings with surroundings.

Conclusion Historic buildings with surroundings are the material and spirit fortune history has left to us. It is our precious and non-regenerative material and cultural resources. It is a group composed by a lot of buildings and their surroundings. It is a band which links our historical affection. It is a carrier by which the history is being passed on. Historic building with surroundings is a reciprocal unity: surroundings supply space and land for the historic buildings with surroundings to survive and grow. So, protecting historic buildings with surroundings is a real method to protect historic buildings. Losing a health environment, it is no meaning to discuss the protection of historic buildings. As the society is progressing, taking historic buildings and surroundings as a unity and made unique planning is an emergent and important problem. Facing this question, we must take it seriously and be responsible for the history. We must culminate experience in the practice and seek the best ways to protect historic buildings with surroundings. We believe that this precious fortune can be spread and passed on forever.

Acknowledgement This paper is supported by National Natural Science Foundation Project "city cultural landscape of small and medium scale visual aesthetic evaluation system research" 41371191, National Tourism Bureau 2015 tourism industry youth expert training plan TYETP201524, 2013 annual Jiangsu Province Social Science Fund Project "Jiang Su city landscape space visual satisfaction evaluating system of" 13YSD031 funded by the, Jiangsu Province "six talent peaks" (2015JZ - 001), Central University basic scientific research special funds 20620140367 etc. funded

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