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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Red industrial heritage in China

scene reconstruction. From small-scale cultural exhibitions and object” (Hu, 2010, p.72). This transition shifts from
and creative displays to large-scale urban renewal projects, “gaze” to “dialogue” and from “communicability” to
red industrial heritage fosters a deeper level of engagement. “plasticity” and “participation.” “Plasticity” refers to the
It offers a broader platform for cultural dissemination audience’s ability to reshape the scene itself through
through the lens of everyday life esthetics, enriching public secondary dissemination, such as transforming a site into a
interactions with history and culture. famous internet attraction through self-published content.
“Participation” involves the audience actively engaging
3.2. Dissemination mechanism of mainstream in the scene’s presentation, such as turning visitors into
culture in the development of red industrial part of the landscape through immersive travel art shoots.
heritage
Participation extends to experiences of clothing, food,
The dissemination mechanism refers to the interaction shelter, and transportation, merging the audience with the
between the disseminating subject, the disseminating ontology of the scene. This engagement leads to embodied
object, and the dissemination framework. Theoretically, cognition, where physical experiences are activated by
this mechanism is not determined by any single party psychological ones. Both plasticity and participation
but is jointly shaped by all three components (Malin, depend on the presence of immersive environments,
2016). Typically, within this dynamic relationship, the allowing the audience to enhance the sense of “gaze”
communication subject occupies a central position and through deeper immersion, thereby strengthening the
plays a crucial role in establishing the mechanism. Red dissemination of mainstream culture.
industrial heritage facilitates the effective transmission of
mainstream culture by offering immersive experiences, While gazing is a direct form of communication
unique scene presentations, and value interpretations (Tang, 2020), immersion is more indirect. Immersion
that align with contemporary needs (Ryan, 1994). The transforms the cultural landscape from a static site into
dissemination mechanism can be categorized into a dynamic historical scene, providing audiences with
three distinct forms: “Gaze-Immersion,” “Abstraction- abstract experiences and enabling conceptual interaction
Embodiment,” and “Historical-Reality.” These forms with the setting over time (Kenderdine, 2015). In terms of
represent different methods through which cultural values communication effectiveness, the threshold for accepting
are communicated and absorbed. “gaze immersion” is relatively low, making it particularly
adept at mobilizing the target audience’s knowledge,
3.2.1. Gaze-Immersion: Constituting embodied cognitive structure, and psychological preconceptions.
cognition Through embodied cognition, this form of communication
In communication, symbols rely heavily on visual creates a “get what you need” effect, promoting media
transmission. The visual communication system captures memory and, ultimately, enhancing the effective
information through the symbolic refinement of “encoding- dissemination of mainstream culture.
decoding,” making it accessible to the viewer through visual 3.2.2. Abstraction-embodiment: The formation of
rhetoric (Pinker, 1984). From a biological and cognitive material perception
psychological perspective, the viewer first perceives light
through eye movements, which then generates biological The dissemination of mainstream culture relies on various
vision through the cornea, pupil, lens, vitreous humor, media, and red industrial heritage, as one of these media,
retina, and optic nerve. This process stimulates the cerebral possesses a distinctive feature in its communication
cortex, forming short-term memory and creating a retained mechanism: It achieves a material leap from abstraction to
message based on visual rhetoric. In cultural studies, this embodiment in terms of perception.
entire process is referred to as the “gaze” because it involves Compared to other forms of mainstream cultural
complex layers of power, desire, capital, and identity. The communication, such as revolutionary cultural relics, red
gaze is bidirectional, encompassing both the viewer as the industrial heritage shares the ability to vividly present key
gazer (the observer) and the gazed (the heritage as the historical moments of the CPC through tangible artifacts,
subject) (Urry, 2007). creating concrete impressions of CPC history. However,
Gazing serves as a form of communication that most revolutionary cultural relics—especially immovable
facilitates the visual decoding and exchange of symbols ones—are often limited in their capacity to transform
(Perfetti, 1984). With the continuous advancement of from static cultural landmarks into immersive historical
cultural science, technology, self-media, and tourism experiences. This limitation arises from their inherent
concepts, red industrial heritage as a cultural landscape heritage attributes and their close association with grand
introduces a “new cultural relationship between subject cultural narratives. In contrast, red industrial heritage

Volume 7 Issue 1 (2025) 6 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.4611