Small European-style building: Public buildings

Author: Feng Jicai / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 1998-11-01
Features: Remember what Goethe said, "Architecture is frozen music." In fact, as a tangible visual art, architecture is also frozen history, isn't it? As you stroll through the streets of Tianjin, rows of foreign-style buildings with the charm and personality of different eras come into view. Without needing to's magic, the European atmosphere seems to arrive right beside you. Over the past century, the subtle accumulation of time has transformed these grand and humble foreign-style buildings into beacons of old Tianjin; and the scenes of history hidden within them represent the trajectory of the city's growth. Today, these buildings have become Tianjin's cultural heritage, its landmarks, and the bridge connecting the past and the present. With such rich connotations, we have no reason not to cherish, document, study, and protect them.
In Tianjin, foreign-style buildings are the product of the concessions. When it comes to the history of these buildings, we cannot help but think of the concessions and the autumn of 1860, when the ink of the "Supplementary Treaty" between China and Britain was barely dry. A British military engineer named Gordon then surveyed and marked the British concession on the southeastern bank of the Haihe River in Tianjin City. Soon after, France and the United States each claimed their own territories. Thus, Tianjin became the second city in China, after Shanghai, to have concessions. In essence, concessions were foreign settlements where expatriates lived in Chinese cities.
At the time of their establishment, the concessions were mostly farmland or low-lying areas. Although many plots in the British concession were sold to the highest bidders under the "Royal Lease" conditions, building construction was extremely difficult. Initially, only the (Pilgrims) built a decent building, which later became the British Consulate. In 1864, the old Union Church was built on the site of the St. Paul's Cathedral on Haidao (Dagushu Road). Before the new Union Church was completed, this area served as the place of worship for concession residents. Additionally, only a few excellent houses were built near the Tairezhuang Road (Haidao) wharf, but the rent was very high. Even so, many foreign companies were still attracted to the British concession. They would first buy the land, "post boundary markers, build a large warehouse and a few temporary living quarters, and be satisfied."
The concessions operated under Western-style urban self-governance, where road construction, drainage facilities, street lighting, and police salaries were all the responsibility of the lessees, or taxpayers. By the 1870s, the British concession authorities had accumulated significant funds, allowing them to begin large-scale municipal construction according to Gordon's original plan. They raised the level of Haidao, built the central axis of the concession—the Zhong Street (later renamed Victoria Road)—with straight, smooth roads lined with double rows of elms. Thanks to these improved infrastructure, by the 1980s, a foreign trade chamber, an English newspaper, a library, a literary society, a gravel road, a park, and a municipal building in the Chinese commercial port had emerged. At the same time, the lives of concession residents underwent a "revolution." Grass court tennis, ballroom dances, smoking-free concerts, and theatrical performances by amateur or professional troupes could all be held in clubs. French horse riders could even hold paper race competitions by the Haihe River.
With the prosperity of the British concession, the demand for buildings quickly "heated up." As soon as a building was completed, it would be rented out and occupied. Many buildings were even booked long before they were finished.
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