Simeitang Cultural Park is an urban renewal project for the purpose of relics protection and cultural inheritance. The original site of the project was the overhaul workshop of the North Loop Line of Wuhan-Jiujiang Railway. Through transformation and functional replacement, it has become a Cultural Park. The core significance of the transformation of railway ruins is to make industrial heritage more valuable and authentic through design, which requires a deeper interpretation of the local history. Thus, we launch transformation and development according to the actual conditions of the site, manage to preserve or restore the historical marks as much as possible, transform and upgrade the industrial heritage and art exhibits, and integrate the newly constructed public places, to form a vibrant urban space, and realize the rebirth of the railway site.
The Simeitang Railway Site Cultural Park is located in the central urban area of Wuhan City, adjacent to the Jiangtan Park and Simeitang Park, covering an area of about 9.2 hectares. Originally hosting the overhaul workshop of the North Loop Line of Wuhan-Jiujiang Railway,In 1918, the Hunan-Hubei section was opened to traffic, and it became the Wudong garage of the Guangzhou-Wuchang Railway. Later, with the completion of the Yangtze River Bridge, the Guangzhou-Wuchang Railway gradually declined due to the decreased loading capacity. In 1991, the old railway station started to relocate, and the Guangzhou-Wuchang Railway step by step exited from the stage of history. With a history of nearly 100 years, it marks the development process of modern railway in Wuhan, featuring an indelible historical memory in the hearts of the older generation of Wuhan residents.The site is rich in industrial heritage resources, It has retained many industrial machines, railway carriages, and rails, rich in industrial atmosphere and historical value and has high artistic and economic development value.
Design Intent: Cultural Continuity and Urban Symbiosis
By building an emerging public open space and activity space, extending the railway cultural memory, and launching renovation and development of the site buildings, the project is to create a vibrant urban public space.
The legacy of railway marks connects the site of the former ferry terminal and the surrounding parks and river beaches, evolving into an open urban green space for the public of comprehensive functions. in terms of functional formats, it links and complements the surrounding business circle, plays a positive role in promoting regional development, and forms a complete urban image display corridor .
Continuing the History and Culture
Applying industrial relics
It protects and repairs the industrial equipment in the site, preserves the existing historical relics such as big trees, gantry cranes and old cement beams. It restores the constructions with a great sense of venue and unique historical memory, such as the old railway station platform, the residual building wall of Xujiapeng Station in 1938. These unique elements make up the park’s most iconic public spaces.
Creating a place with cultural memory
By organizing the paths and linking various spatial elements with unique place memory inside the site, the project is built into an accessible “large-scale outdoor museum of railway ruins”, so that the public can understand the development process of the Wuhan-Jiujiang Railway more intuitively through interactive experience, fully feel the historical space scenes in the new era, and witness the history of railway development in the past century.
Stimulating Urban Vitality and Public Participation
Functional industrial heritage and art installations
The reuse of historical relics provides richer and more diversified colors for the public space. We incorporate the linear water features, resting tree array, multi-functional activity lawn, architecture, sculptures and art installations to build the core theater of the park.The waste machinery in the site are also retained, transformed and utilized. Implanted with participatory urban functions and art installations, they are re-endowed with new artistic images, generating new urban topics.
Creating diverse urban vitality spaces
The site reserves a variety of public elastic spaces, which along with the dry spray scenes, public green lawns, and tree array squares, form diverse activity areas, providing various possibilities for different periods and functions.
Making public space more active
Through the landscape design technique and multi-dimensional spatial processing, the ground and the building roof space are connected. Along with various landscape scenes, such as public stands, terraces, gardens, and commercial modules, they transform the negative street space into a dynamic space with rich functions to meet the needs of park activities, park offices, and urban exhibitions.
Conclusion
The Simeitang Railway Site Cultural Park has created a diversified public activity space for the residents. It has established a sense of belonging and pride in the city, continued the historical, cultural and industrial memories, stimulated the vitality of the old industrial zone and regional communities, and realized harmonious coexistence between the people and the natural environment and historical sites. The renovated Simeitang Railway Site Cultural Park hosts various types of urban public activities and has become a landmark destination in Wuhan.
Simeitang Cultural Park
Landscape Architect: SHUISHI
Landscape Architect: CSADI
Client: Wuhan Urban Railway Construction Investment & Development Co.,L TD
Lighting Design Company: GOLD ORIENTAL INDUSTRY (WUHAN) GROUP CO.,L TD.
