Editor’s note

On October 11th, the front page of “Beijing Daily” published an article “World Heritage Experts Praise the Protection and the Utilization of the Shougang Site”, which was reproduced in full today.

On October 10th, four foreign experts who came to Beijing to attend the “2018 International Symposium on the Application and Protection of the Central Axis of Beijing” specially took their time to study the protection and utilization of the Shougang site. Michael Turner, a UNESCO professor of the urban design and conservation studies, said “from the old factory building to the future Winter Olympic Stadium”, Shougang’s new idea of exploring the renewal and the renovation is worth promoting.

The autumn breeze is cool. Under the blue sky and the white clouds, Shougang is no longer a company with a spray of molten steel. This old factory on the west extension line of the Chang’an Street is the epitome of the development of China’s metallurgical industry and a banner of reform and opening up, which has made many historic contributions to Beijing. Now, the century-old factory has a gorgeous transformation. The State Sports Administration and Shougang signed the “Framework Agreement on the Preparation for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games and the Construction of a Demonstration Zone of National Sports Industry”. Both sides will make use of Shougang’s industrial relics and locational advantages to develop and utilize them, and through the protection and the utilization of the old industrial base, an establishment of a demonstration zone of the national sports industry.

On the first floor of Shougang’s pottery building, experts watched the advertising video of the 2022 Winter Olympic Square and the ski jumping platform to learn more about the details of Shougang’s construction regarding the Winter Olympic Training Center, as well as the overall utilization of the industrial sites to promote the overall transformation and development of the park. They were amazed all the way. Old buildings with nostalgia and Beijing memories are not simply demolished and rebuilt, but used to their maximum extent. In the characteristic hotel that the factory relic transforms into, Michael Pearson, the Chairman of ICOMOS, was thrilled about the rebirth of the industrial site, nodding to praise this “rebirth”.

In Shougang Park, the experts were surprised by all sorts of different places such as the Winter Olympic Square and the hotel. Patricia O’Donnell, the Chairman of the IFLA International Cultural Landscape Science Committee of the International Council on Ancient Sites, visited the site with questions all the way. She was surprised with every single one of the details. “Shougang has done a great job on upgrading and reusing the building itself,” she said.

As the capital’s west gate, Shougang’s old industrial zone is becoming a new landmark for the city’s revival. Edward Dennison, an associate professor of the University of London, has almost used his camera to record every bit of the park. “Shougang’s protection and utilization experience should be learned by more places, and not only that, but the protection of Beijing’s central axis can also be used for reference,” he said.