Sunac • Wuhan 1890

The ' 2021 Wuhan Design Biennale ' is an important window for the world to observe the advanced design of ' Design Capital-Wuhan '.From November 1 to 12,2021, the sixth Wuhan Design Biennale was officially opened in the pilot demonstration area of the industrial site of Wuhan 1890 Project ( formerly Hanyang Iron Works Bar Factory ) in Hanyang District.

The predecessor of the 1890 project in Wuhan was Hanyang Iron Works, which was founded in 1890 by Zhang Zhidong, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty. It is a symbol of the awakening of modern Chinese industry. Hanyang Iron Works was selected into the first batch of China 's industrial heritage protection list in 2018. The project was launched in 2019 and is positioned as ' National Industrial Culture Protection Model Area ' and ' Wuhan Hotbed Art Industry Core Area '. It is currently the largest and most concentrated industrial site renovation project in Wuhan. The total construction area is about 1.3 million square meters, of which about 760,000 square meters of cultural and artistic commercial area is the core highlight of the project. There are 34 industrial site buildings and structures covering about 160,000 square meters in this plot.

The bar plant is one of the most important spaces in Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant. The billet acceptance, heating, rolling, cooling, shearing and other steps in the steel production process are carried out here, so the scale space is very large. The main factory building is about 550 meters long, 55 meters wide and 24 meters high. It is the largest industrial site in Asia.

After being selected as the main exhibition hall of Wuhan Design Biennale in 2021, Hanyang Iron Plant Bar Plant requires that the National Day of that year must be delivered to the exhibition. The time is tight, so in March 2021, the Foster design team and the party, the architect Aedas, the construction drawing team together to the site survey, on-site work meeting, officially launched the project design work.

The overall transformation conditions of the bar factory site are not optimistic. First, the original roof truss has been out of repair for many years, and it is difficult to evaluate its bearing capacity conditions. In addition, a large number of roof slabs have weathering and water leakage, and the bearing capacity of the structure, beam and column of the old plant system is also a problem. The distribution of steel bars in the exposed concrete flanging of the ground elevation is very small, which is basically formed by the mixture of corroded steel bars and gravel. It is completely different from the current structure, and there is a great risk.

The transformation of the bar factory is a microcosm of the old transformation of Rongchuang Wuhan 1890 industrial site. The project has planned a ' one park and five districts ', including the unbounded central art park, TOD city portal area, Qintai headquarters office area, cultural and artistic activity area, industrial art exhibition area, and design capital creative park. After completion, it will introduce a number of cultural creativity and design art enterprises to settle in. Together with the surrounding Zhang Zhidong and Wuhan Museum, Guqintai, Qintai Grand Theater, Hanyang Art District, Yuehu Park and the Qintai Art Museum under construction, the Qintai Central Art District will be formed.

Taking industrial sites as the root, in the future, Wuhan 1890 project will transform and upgrade heavy industry into cultural creation and design industry, awaken urban memory and burst new urban culture. It not only continues the history of old buildings, reproduces the glory of the past, but also promotes urban renewal and realizes the rebirth of the old city.