The Death and Life of Old Beijing

With a gross floor area of 3,875,000 square feet, the project had already gone through 36 master plans by the time the district government enlisted SOHO in early 2006. In the end, the original grid of hutong and their names were retained. Still, the government wanted the entire area remade quickly—by October, 2007—a deadline SOHO pushed back to approximately 2010. Nearly a half-mile long, the main thoroughfare has already been converted to a pedestrian shopping mall, centered by trolleys and fronted by remade buildings that are closely styled on those seen in a 1950 photograph of the street. Architects enlisted by SOHO include Ben Wood, who designed Shanghai’s open-air mall Xintiandi, and Yung-Ho Chang, of MIT.

“Yung-Ho understands tradition, as well as what architecture means in today’s environment,” Zhang continued. “It’s not an exact replica, as the buildings have to function in today’s world.” Although the construction uses modern materials—concrete frames, for example—Zhang said the results will not be a “fake movie set. It will look respectable as part of our history, and also as property that can be used today. If successful, it will work as a great model for other cities. There is a rush to save what’s left. There’s enough awareness now. We must try.”