REVIVING:

MINES PARK
Shandong
Key
Competition
Insights

01/08/2020
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BACKGROUND
INFO

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THE ZICHUAN
SUB-DISTRICT
Zichuan is the largest district of Zibo

Zibo with a vast rural area, and

an important industrial centre of
Zichuan
Shandong (a coastal province in
the East China region).

Shandong

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It was once a stone-walled city with four big gates in the
Ming Dynasty and extended to its present scale mainly
in the recent decades. The Zibo area was the centre of
the ancient State of Qi, whose capital Linzi was the most
populous city in China at its peak. As the birthplace of Qi
culture, Zibo is a notable tourist city.

Area of interest

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After thousands of years slow development relying
on agriculture, Zichuan had undergone an economic
breakthrough since the discovery of its coal resource
and has now a typical economic structure of heavily
industrialized zones.

Area of interest

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Currently, manufacturing holds an important place of the
city’s economy, particularly ceramics manufacturing. The
large concentration of architectural ceramics of Zichuan
make 60% of the total output of Zibo’s ceramics industry.
Textiles is other key industry of the area.
Well-known landmarks of Zichuan include Middle Streets,
Liuquan Square, Lake Liuxian, Zichuan Garments Town,
Liaozhai Town and Beishan Park.

In the Zichuan District, there are the former residence of

writer Pu Songling in and Ma’anshan Counter - Japanese
War site as the provincial key cultural relics’ protection unit,
and Taihe River Massacre Site and the former site of “Great
Han virtuous Lord” in Qing Dynasty as the municipal cultural
relics’ protection unit. Scenic spots and historic sites include
su Xiang tomb, Yangzhai tower, Liaozhai garden, Zichuan
amusement park, etc. The local tourism industry is just in
its infancy. The main tourism activities are Tanxi mountain
outing Festival, Qishan Cherry Blossom Festival, Mengquan
flower appreciation Festival, Zitong mountain sophora
flower festival, Liaozhai folk experience.

Outside the Zichuan district, some geological formations

were found to be rich in fossils. Zhucheng in southeastern
Shandong, has been the site of many discoveries of
dinosaur fossils. A major find of 7,600 dinosaur bones
was announced in 2008, and is believed to be the largest
collection ever found.

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MINES &
ECOLOGY
Mining provides a wealth of mineral raw materials to
human beings, while also causing serious damage to the
environment and ecology. For millennia the planet’s surface
was configured by the slow geologic processes of wind and
rain. In contrast, mining alters the very geology, topography,
hydrology and ecology of sites within years or decades.

Mining operations, although expansive and complex, are

temporary. However, this kind of activity has a dramatic
visual impact on the landscape, creating large areas devoid
of vegetation that are seen as intrusive and unattractive.
Stone terraces make interesting morphological forms and,
thus, they become specific landmarks. Areas of abandoned
quarries are an important element of the environment
in terms of both their regional and national meaning.
Excavated holes left after exploitation of solid rock minerals
are characterised by many features, due to which we may
talk about their own landscape.

The site proximity to areas such as E Zhuang forest park,

Long Cang Dong ecological area, Lu Sha national forest
park and Yi Yuan Lu Shan caves can reveal an opportunity
to rethink and relink the surroundings in a wide proposal.

Additional site photos and drone videos are available on the

Non-A Website.

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RURAL
DEVELOPMENT
The rural exodus has always been a challenge. However,
rural depopulation should not be addressed as a purely
geographical problem since there is a strong social and
economic component behind the phenomenon. By creating
high-paying jobs and providing the raw materials essential
to every sector of the economy, mining helps stimulate
economic growth of the area where it’s settled. With the end
of the mining activity, it comes the socio-economic impacts
on many social groups making it urgent to provide a new
economic activity to boost the Zichuan area.

By being an industrial centre, the cost of living in Zichuan

and the whole Zibo area is among the lowest in East China -
the most prosperous region in China. Besides the industrial
context, Shandong has also a heritage on craftmanship. The
government is taking a revitalization plan to promote the
traditional craftsmanship of the region. From ceramics to
textile, the area is most famous for its glaze craft.

The potential of the site makes the perfect context for

proposing new models for sustainable development of
the region. Considering the surrounding villages, there is
potential to promote an urban program to be considered in
a broader scale.

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10 REVIVING SHANDONG MINES PARK
PROPOSALS

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A RANGE OF
SOLUTIONS
This competition is meant to be exploring the potential
of the Shandong Mines Park through creative design
solutions. The outcome will inform local stakeholders and
decisionmakers on new and smart ways to generate value.
This value can be ecological, cultural, social, artistic, or
economic.

Following this logic, projects do not have any constraint.

In terms of SCALE, they can range from furniture design

to master planning. Proposals can address human scale,
designing objects and small-scale pavilions, or they can
bring a more large-scale strategic approach, developing
a district plan for the whole areas. They can be single or
multiple buildings in a network. They can be landscape
design projects, cultural initiatives, or systemic plans.

PROGRAMMATICALLY, they can accommodate multiple

functions or be afunctional. Proposals can be pieces of art
or elements to bring new use to the mining sites. They can
also be fully functional buildings, with public, residential,
or work use. They can be ecological plans, or they can be
related to accessibility, becoming bridges or pedestrian/
cycling networks.

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Concerning LOCATION, the area selected for this
competition has been framed in the maps contained in this
brief. Nevertheless, there is no clear boundary or target
site to be addressed. Keeping that in mind, it is up to the
participants to define the geographical and topographical
conditions for their proposals.

We do not require projects to have a high level of technical

precision and we do not need them to be located in a
real context. They can relate to the site in an imaginative
way, defining general principles or using a made-up
context that would portray one of the typical conditions
of the area. Projects can address mine regeneration sites,
natural zones, rural villages or any other zone that might
seem relevant. Further site research from the teams is
appreciated but not required.

Given these parameters, projects will be compared and

evaluated basing on how creative, feasible and well-
presented they are. Therefore, we encourage you to focus
only on a very limited range of programmatic features,
scale of intervention and site conditions. Projects do
not need to solve everything, but they have to SHARPLY
ADDRESS ONE OR TWO KEY ISSUES.

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INSPIRATION BOARD

#MASTERPLAN #LOOKOUT-POINT

#RESILIENTCOMMUNITY #PARKDESIGN-PRINCIPLES

#ECORESORT #BRIDGE

#ARCHITECTURAL-HERITAGE #INSTALLATIONS/PLAYGROUNDS

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#LANDMARKS #ART/FURNITURE

#CULTURE #FOOD

#ENERGYLANDSCAPES #MINESREGENERATION

#MUSEALIZATION #WAYFINDING

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THE NON
ARCHITECTURE
TEAM, ARQ AND ALL
THE COMPETITION
SPONSORS WISH
YOU THE BEST LUCK,
CONFIDENT THAT YOU
WILL APPROACH THE
CONTEST
WITH ALL YOUR
CREATIVITY AND
INNOVATIVE MIND.

INFO@NONARCHITECTURE.EU
WWW.NONARCHITECTURE.EU

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CURATOR

COMPETITION
PARTNERS

COMPETITION Beijing Tourist Scenic

Investment Management
SPONSORS Co., Ltd.

Shouqing Aolv Investment

Management Co. , Ltd. ,

Shandong Li Guizu
Cultural Development
Co. Ltd.

SUPPORTED BY People’s Government of

Zichuan District, Zibo City,
Shandong Province.

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