Suzhou Feng Menglong Academy: Nostalgia and Reconstruction

June 2019 - Present

First author of an essay on the architectural design concept of Xiangcheng Feng Menglong Academy in Suzhou Published on the Journal of Jiangsu Investigation & Design (Aug 2021)

About 20 kilometers northwest of the ancient city of Suzhou, it is Fengmenglong Village, located in the Huangdai Town, with Wangyu River in the north and Xitang River in the east. In 2014, to memorize the 440th anniversary of the birth of Feng Menglong, a historical celebrity in Wudi, the old Xinxiang Village was renamed the young Feng Menglong Village. This river town in the south of the Yangtze River, is the hometown of Feng Menglong, a popular writer in the Ming Dynasty. Now it has also become the starting point for recalling his literary heritage and cultural spirit. With the completion of Feng Menglong’s Former Residence rebuilding, Feng Menglong Memorial Hall and Feng Menglong Academy, the surrounding folk song hall, Maiyoulang’s oil workshop and Guangxiao Mansion have been put into opening, and the construction projects of Feng Menglong Farming Cultural Park and Huanggongdang Leisure Farm have been promoted and perfected. The young villages have gradually formed a beautiful rural sample integrating agriculture, culture, and tourism, presenting a unique cultural characteristic of the Jiangnan countryside.

1. The Academy in the Village

In the countryside of Feng Menglong Village, a green tile corridor encloses a small square. On the east side is Feng Menglong’s Former Residence, and in the middle is Feng Menglong Memorial Hall (two buildings were built in 2018, before Feng Menglong Academy), both of which use traditional wooden structures. , Imitating the style of Jiangnan folk houses in the Ming Dynasty; and on the west side of the square is the newly completed Feng Menglong Academy. Feng Menglong Academy was designed by Suzhou Jiucheng Urban Architectural Design Co., Ltd. and completed in 2019. The total land area is 1494 square meters, the total construction area is about 1073 square meters, and the building height is 7.165 meters.

The academy seems to have grown silently from the village, a quiet corner of the lotus leaf field. The main body of the building is the first floor, and the second floor is partially herringbone-shaped small blue tile roofs, scattered in the middle of the plot, which reduces the visual height from the surroundings. At the same time, the style also tacitly responds to the village’s residential buildings and pre-built former residences. memorial. The academy designed the entrance to the east, passing through the memorial hall and the former residence through the entrance porch and corridor to the east. It not only aggregates the three originally independent buildings into groups on the functional flow line, but also shuttles the flow of time in the flow of space. . This group of buildings encloses a public space in a village through a small square, which not only accepts formal memorials and visit ceremonies, but also encourages daily gatherings and exchanges of villagers.

From the outside, the architectural style of the academy is fully integrated into the texture of the site. However, when stepping into the academy from the antique porch, you find that the interior is a completely different spatial experience and structural form. The first floor is an open and transparent large space, surrounding the central water courtyard, with books as the wall, forming a staggered level of sight; the local two floors are high and outline the outlines of several important functional spaces. At the entrance of the academy, one side is the leisure book bar (and reception service center) and public classrooms, connected to the wall of bookshelves. On the other side is the commemorative merchandise display area, with windows facing the half-open central water courtyard. Along the passages on both sides of the water courtyard, you can reach Mohanzhai on the north side and Sanyan Bookstore on the west side. Sanyan Bookstore has complex functions such as book collection, public reading, multimedia interaction, and cultural relic display. Mohanzhai provides visitors with experience activities of visiting and engraving books. Along the spiral staircase in the central water courtyard, or the stepped reading area, there is a second floor platform area paved with white gravel. There are six relatively independent one-story lofts on the second floor. The one in the northwest corner is hidden by the grille to hide the VRV air conditioner. There is an independent classroom space, three full-height spaces on the lower space, and the southernmost one is an open space. Pavilion gallery. The first floor is a relatively enclosed interface, while the second floor presents a more open attitude, but the same white walls and the same design of the new steel-wood structural system based on Canadian glulam make the space connection natural. The moon gate under the pavilion makes the space more transparent, and the surrounding scenery can be vaguely seen in perspective, as well as the square corridor and the blue tile roof of the side building. The design of the pavilion also enhances the relationship between the academy and the small square. When you take a leisurely stroll in the pavilion corridor on the second floor, you can look down at the activities of the small square, and you can also look at the village and the daily life of the villagers further away. This opposite relationship is also two-way. Before entering the academy, standing on the small square, the steel frame structure of the pavilion and corridor has been faintly revealed on the traditional white wall and tile, welcoming visitors with its agile and open attitude.

In terms of spatial configuration, the academy is like the old and young Feng Menglong Village, blended into the texture of the Jiangnan village with white walls and black tiles, but at the same time it stretches a bright and light modern sense. Moreover, with the help of the design of the high-altitude space, the glass windows, leaking windows and skylights invite light to the maximum, creating a richer space experience and a more friendly climate interface in the space conversion.

2. The Memory of Time

In this Jiangnan village where water and land coexist, Feng Menglong Academy has become a historical cross-section, whether as an architectural space or as a cultural symbol. What it displays is the literary heritage of Ming Dynasty popular writer Feng Menglong, who was "born in Wudi and grew up in Wudi", as well as a section of cultural features and human settlements nearly five hundred years ago.

Feng Menglong and the public beings in his works are undoubtedly the invisible masters of this space, and therefore dominate and build the spirit of the place here. Whether in front of the stage, in the cabinet, or on the shelf, all the books, scrolls, copybooks and souvenirs are related to Feng Menglong and his literary works, and they all strengthen the historical atmosphere of the place. There was light on the top, pick up a book at hand, sit down in the stepped reading area, and enter Feng Menglong's literary world in a short while. In Mohanzhai, visitors can even pick up the carving knife and engrave the engraving plates themselves, rubbing out the traces of time between paper and ink, which also framed the prosperity of the Jiangnan engraving printing industry in the Ming Dynasty.

Minimize the color and decoration of the interior space, so that the light that enters from the flower windows and skylights can move around flexibly. It is with the addition of changes in light that this historical cross-section projects a dynamic sense of time flow. After entering the space, the bookshelves on the side walls and the skylight with longitudinal windows on the top lead visitors directly to the open staircase reading area, and the hustle and bustle of the outside world gradually calms down. Along the walkways on both sides, you can reach the quieter and more historical Sanyan Bookstore. You can travel through the legends of his life in the general catalog of Feng Menglong’s works, or you can think about a precious literary memory in the treasures area.

Time also flows in this small square outside the academy. From east to west, this blue tile corridor links the former residences, memorial halls, and academies. In the five hundred years, births, deaths, prosperity, and decline... Countless human stories happened on this land, and they were also written in "Three Words" in this story. Feng Menglong grew up from a juvenile child in the village to a generation of writers and a model of honest government admired by later generations; Feng Geng went to this ordinary Jiangnan village and went through dynasties time after time. People went and came again, and houses were renovated when they were old. New buildings that conform to the times, like new cells, shape today’s new look step by step. This square is a condensed time capsule. A corridor creates an interface that is actively open to villagers and tourists. It connects three buildings and connects the historical context from ancient to modern times, connecting people, buildings, The different life cycles of the three villages also connect architecture's thinking about the times.

3. Nostalgia and Hometown Reconstruction

Space carries human activities. The relationship between memorial and memorial, the connection between memorial and history, and the interaction between memorial and space are also shaping the space. People participate in the creation of space. Therefore, a memorial space with cultural representation should also be an experience and spiritual space. It is precisely because of this that the Academy has multiple subjects. It belongs to Feng Menglong, a writer of the Ming Dynasty who is the memorial, to the visitors as the memorial, and to the villagers in the village where it grew up.

The design of the academy fully takes care of the stay and experience of visitors who come to commemorate the tour. Although the space design is compact, it reserves reading areas with different functional needs: there is a quiet reading and writing area inside the Sanyan Bookstore, a more private two-story attic reading area, and a leisure reading area next to the water courtyard, and even You can stop in the stepped reading area where you can half-recline or sit cross-legged. These reading areas with different styles all call for visitors to stop.

In addition, the public classrooms on the first floor and the Dream Dragon Academy on the second floor fully meet the different functional needs of learning, training and small seminars. The academy can be a place for students to visit and study, a place for scholars to read rare books and hold seminars, a place to learn Feng Menglong's spirit of clean government, and even a space for villagers to relax and socialize. The central water yard is located at the core, transparent on all sides, and the Taihu stone erected in the pool marks the unique regionality of the place. Several concrete steps lead to an oval platform, which is lively and agile. It is not only a small stage for holding various activities, but also a place where children in the village often play. The rich subjectivity of the academy makes the space more vivid, and it also creates a more sustainable and vital cultural heritage in daily activities.

As a famous writer, Feng Menglong wrote a period of historical civilization in literary works such as "Yu Shi Ming Yan", "Jing Shi Tong Yan", "Awakening the World and Heng Yan", but his indelible contribution lies in the Ming Dynasty novels, operas, and folk songs. The creation, collection, and compilation of popular literature such as, jokes, etc., that is, the record and inheritance of this period of historical civilization. Feng Menglong Academy, as a space to display and carry this literary heritage, is a cultural symbol with a regional and historical sense, and also embodies a period of personal memory and social spirit from the past. At the same time, it should also respond to the contemporary nature. In the memory and experience of every one of us, whether it is villagers or tourists, continue the historical civilization and continue to pass on after incorporating the new cultural spirit.

As a practice in the construction of characteristic rural villages in Jiangsu Province, the design of Feng Menglong Academy is a positive response to the representation of "Let the residents see the mountains, see the water, and remember the home", and it is also a combination of regions. Features the pioneering practice and beneficial exploration of the rural construction actions carried out. In response to the various problems caused by high-speed urbanization in the past 30 years, Jiangsu has successively carried out a series of characteristic rural rural construction and rural revitalization practices since 2017, such as She Village in Jiangning District, Nanjing led by Academician Qi Kang, and Academician Cui Kai led the design The brick kiln museum project in Zhujiadian Village, Kunshan, Suzhou, and Qian Jiadu, led by Academician Wang Jianguo, strive to make the "hollow village" in economic recession a poetic pastoral homesickness for "urban people" (by Zhou Lan and Liu Dawei, Pastoral Country, characteristic pastoral village-Jiangsu practice of rural construction action", China Construction Industry Press, March 2021).

Nowadays, Fenggeng is still intertwined with water networks, and Daoxiang lotus ponds are scattered throughout the village, but they also give off a different atmosphere in the four-season orchards and the modern homestays scattered around the village. The former Jiangnan village has become the model of today's beautiful countryside. While cultural heritage, it also takes into account the integrated development of agriculture, ecology and tourism. With the launch of the Sizhitang, Debentang, Xinyantang, Feng Menglong Clean Government Cultural Training Center and other projects, this place has gradually developed into a Feng Menglong clean government education base with regional and contemporary characteristics.

The academy grows on the ridge, rubbing out five hundred years of time, and has become the emotional belonging and public spirit of the villagers in the new era. At the same time, it attracts tourists from all over the world to experience the countryside and return to the original with its rich cultural experience and characteristic local projects. . The completion of the construction of the academy not only shows a glorious past, but also becomes a link between history and the future. With the continuous enhancement of cultural cohesion, it will further realize the realization of "rejuvenating the township by cultural people and culture". The design of Feng Menglong Academy has become a rural cultural space that carries nostalgia and nostalgia, continues the unique local people and humanistic spirit, and promotes the contemporary revival of rural cultural heritage and rural industrial development in rural construction.