Revitalization: retelling the story of a light industrial factory in North China

After the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, many Chinese cities began rapid industrial transformation under Soviet aid from 1953 to 1957. During the first five-year-plan period, many new and important factories were constructed and put into production. As a country in its early socialist formation, most of the buildings in China at that time were constructed in "Soviet Styles". They demonstrated a "modern and simple" solid exterior, symmetrical plans and facades, and were constructed with heavy material such as reinforced concrete. 

However, with the development of society, most of these factories are no longer in use. In the late 20th century, the poor management and the pressure of state-owned companies’ transformation led to systematic failure. Once the pride of its workers, the network of early factories have become poorly handled. With the factories’ progressive closure in the early 21st century, most of the workers were at the prime of their 40s, but they had lost the jobs they were once proud of. Unfortunately, a large portion of these workers did not receive an adequate education, many of them started making money as labourers, and some of them have even done nothing at home for the past 20 years. 

As a response to the bleak current status of the Soviet-aided factories in China, this thesis aims to research and demonstrate their significant architectural languages, while exploring methods to adapt the factories into contemporary Chinese contexts. The thesis focuses on an abandoned factory site located in Shijiazhuang, a second-tier city with a typical light industry 300km away from Beijing. The site facilitates the first cotton mill in the CBD of Shijiazhuang. The deserted huge building complex is alien to its contemporary neighbourhood and is currently facing the fate of demolition. 

The author proposes to inject new blood into the abandoned factory by introducing a series of architectural interventions and public programmes while maintaining its architectural and historical features as means to preserve memories of the once-proud workers. The proposal particularly emphasises building an ageing-friendly community, providing the now-retired ex-factory workers with a place to reflect on the past while embracing the future.