Moshikou has been a major town in Beijing since ancient times and is also a thoroughfare for trade and commerce. In 2002, it was included in the second batch of Beijing's Historical and Cultural Protection Zone.

In recent years, Moshikou Historical and Cultural Block has gradually become one of the most popular places to visit in the western part of Beijing. Recently, the Shijingshan District Moshikou Historical and Cultural Block's public space renovation and upgrading project (Phase I) ushered in new progress - the project officially started construction, which will further enhance the quality of public space in the neighborhood, better continue the ancient charm of the block, and stimulate spatial vitality.

Connecting the dots into a piece: Millennial Ancient Road "revitalizes" the space

The project organically combines the neighborhood's rich historical and cultural heritage with a comfortable public space. By focusing on four key nodes, namely, the north entrance of Moshikou North Street, the public space of Moshikou, the space of Wanquan Temple Site, and the entrance space of Fahai Temple, the project optimizes and enhances the walking experience of the West Circular Road of Beixiao Street and the waterfront space of Yongyin Canal, improves and enriches the regional public service support facilities, and further upgrades the style of the historical and cultural neighborhood to provide an open and energetic space for residents' daily leisure interaction and display of cultural activities.

Responding to people's needs and creating a new space shared by everyone

Focusing on "convenience, livability, safety, fairness, and diversity", the project conducted a questionnaire study for residents, merchants, street managers, and tourists in the Moshikou area, and gathered the needs of all parties through a large number of sampling surveys. The extensive research brought many inspirations to the design, and the design program also integrates and takes into account the diverse demands of the people, and strives to create a public space shared by everyone.

Utilizing aesthetic concepts to recreate open space in Western Beijing

The renovation project strives to combine the characteristics of the historical and cultural block of Moshikou to create a green, open, and diversified public space in the district.

The spatial themes are determined for different public space locations and characteristics so that the renovated and upgraded public space harmonizes with the neighborhood environment. For example, the public space of Wanquan Temple extracted the design language and techniques from traditional architecture and classical garden patterns and established three major themes of "court," "garden," and "park," which correspond to the different spaces of the site, and the design and renovation are carried out on the basis of respecting the site, ancient trees, elevation, and other characteristics.

The East and West Circular Roads are connected to North Street to realize the access and diversion of the East and West Circular Roads in the future. Among them, the East Circular Road starts from the Yongding River Diversion Drainage Canal sluice gate in the east, and goes to Moshikou North Street in the west, focusing on creating a waterfront apricot blossom slow-walking runway in the spring; the West Circular Road of Beixiao Street starts from the Moshikou Parking Lot in the east, and connects to the Shimen Road in the west, and creates a distinctive maple-leaf landscape in autumn along the way.

The current site is used to design rich scenes such as the open-air vernacular art bazaar, reading in the forest, playing under the forest, etc., and synchronously improve municipal supporting facilities such as water and electricity to facilitate the holding of diversified activities in the future.

National treasures such as the mural paintings of Fahai Temple are explored and the beauty of art is reproduced in the form of landscape vignettes. For example, a "mural" installation will be added to the public space, and the interaction between people and the installation will be realized through a rotatable metal plate, which will display the beauty of cultural heritage while decorating the public space.

Translator: ZHOU Huilin

Reviewer: LIU Jin