Page 14 - JCAU-5-1

Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Geographical and architectural imaginations

in foreign-aid project delivery in Vietnam, was tasked building tropical buildings and light steel structures. The
with designing the project. This industrial project was aim was to improve the quality of foreign aid design and to
completed by several design institutes, including Shanghai promote domestic construction and manufacturing levels.
Light Industry Design Institute (responsible for equipment While celebrating the initial success of the match and
design), Shanghai Food Design Institute (process design), cigarette united factory, during Zhou’s visit, Guinean
Beijing Industrial Architecture Design Institute (building government requested to expand the existing aid program,
design), and Shanghai Pudong Cigarette Machinery including building a huitang (the People’s Palace) in
Equipment Factory (providing machinery equipment), all Conakry. The Beijing Industrial Architecture Design
coordinated by the Shanghai Bureau (Wang, 1993).
Institute was tasked with the project, and chief architect
Despite being considered a priority by political officials Chen Deng’ao was selected to design this project on the
and design technicians, the implementation of the match grounds of his achievements and good background (Lian,
and cigarette united factory encountered numerous 2020). Chen Deng’ao was considered one of the most
challenges in terms of inappropriate design standards, significant architects of his generation after completing
logistical operation, management, coordination, and the Di’anmen Military Dormitory buildings in the mid-
protocol negotiation. Nevertheless, with the intervention 1950s and the Beijing Railway Station (collaborating
of Premier Zhou and Fang Yi, these difficulties were with Nanjing Institute of Technology) in 1959 (Figure 7).
managed, and the project produced good economic These two large-scale institutional projects demonstrated
performance (Rivière, 1977). During his visit to Guinea his prowess to deal with complex formal and functional
in 1964, Premier Zhou inspected the site, and praised problems in sensitive urban contexts. In the 1950s,
the efforts of both Chinese and Guinean technicians Socialist Realism dominated the ideology of Beijing,
and builders. He also pointed out some construction and both projects maintained symmetrical layouts and
problems, including the cumbersome appearance of a sense of monumentality. While the former was a pair
the factory building, which required a lot of materials, of U-shaped linear buildings located on the two sides of
more investment, and longer construction time. Zhou Di’anmennei Street, part of the city’s urban axis starting
suggested that some lightweight buildings should be from Tiananmen to the Forbidden City to Jingshan Park
used in Africa, and issues of ventilation and moisture- to the Drum Tower, the latter was the city’s state-of-the-art
proof should be properly addressed. In response to and largest transportation hub. Both projects reinforced
Zhou’s comments, Fang Yi immediately called a meeting the existing urban order and shared a similarity of Beaux-
of experts from the State Administration of Foreign Arts style formal composition and eclectic articulation.
Trade and Economic Cooperation and the Ministry of To be more specific, the Dormitory buildings and Railway
Architectural Engineering to study key technologies for Station were characterized by a juxtaposition of modern
concrete structures and traditional pitched roofs and
decorations.

In 1961, Chen Deng’ao visited Guinea to conduct
a design investigation, where he was impressed by
Conakry’s modernist architectural heritage, designed
by architects from both colonial France and the Soviet
bloc. During his visit, Chen meticulously observed and
analyzed how local buildings in the area responded

Figure 6. The layout of the match and cigarette united factory, Conakry. Figure 7. Elevation of the Di’anmen Military Dormitory Buildings,
Source: Redai jianzhu, p. 29 Beijing, 1953. Source: Jianzhu xuebao, 1954, no. 2.

Volume 5 Issue 1 (2023) 8 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.200