RESTORATION OF XIAN’S SOUTH GATE PLAZA

- CHINA

BY
L. DURKA SREE,
2020802028,
URBAN LANDSCAPE DESIGN,
SAP, ANNA UNIVERSITY.
 RESTORATION OF XIAN’S SOUTH GATE PLAZA- CHINA

INTRODUCTION TO XIAN:

The city of Xi’an is the capital of Shaanxi province in China, located in the
center of the Guanzhong Plain of Northwestern China. Xi’an is the oldest of the Four Great
Ancient Capitals, having held the position under several of the most important dynasties in
Chinese history. Xi’an is the starting point of the Silk Road, and home to the
famed Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. After a long period of decline, Xi’an
has re-emerged as an important cultural, industrial and educational centre of the central-
northwest region since the 1990s. It has facilities for research and development, national
security and China’s space exploration program.
Xian has a population of 8,705,600 and Xian - Xianyang metropolitan area has a
population of 12.9 million, making it be most populous city in Northwest China, as well as
one of the three most populous city in West China as per report by the economist Xian is one
of the 13 emerging mega cities of China.
With all of this growth and redevelopment no one would be surprised to learn
that its historical buildings and sites have come under pressure. But a recent project found a
way to both restore historic site and revitalize one of the gateways of the city.
INTRODUCTION TO THE PROJECT:

The south gate, Yongning, is the most beautifully decorated one. It is very
near to the Bell Tower, center of the city. Important greeting ceremonies organized by the
Provincial Government are usually held in the south gate square. The South Gate Square is
restored and formally open to public on September 6, 2014. Covering an area of around 7.9
acres (32,000 square meters), the U shaped square is divided into three parts, main royal road,
secondary royal road and celebration square.
This axis string consist of numerous cultural reliefs of the Han, Tang, Ming and Qing
dynasties with modern times. It’s also the core area and an important node of Xi’an culture,
tourism, commerce and transportation.

REASON FOR RESTORATION:

In recent years, with the social progress and economic development, the
South Gate Plaza area has gradually displayed numerous problems: disorganized traffic,a
dilapidated public square, poor accessibility from outside the plaza, and a chaotic visual
environment that doesn’t compliment the many historic landmarks.
DESCRIPTION:

The China Northwest Architecture Design and Research Institute has

come to the rescue with a renovation project designed make South Gate greener, as well as
more beautiful, accessible, and functional. They have achieved this while protecting existing
cultural relics resources, enhancing the regional environmental quality, and restoring the
ancient building. The underground space is being enhanced with additional parking to reduce
unsightly surface parking, and will connect to a new east-west underground pedestrian
channel. This successfully separates the pedestrians from drivers.

THE KEY THREE SECTIONS:

The underground space is mainly composed by parking lot and
tourism service installations which can solve the problem of lack of regional parking spaces
and avoid the subway station, city moat and urban rapid channel at the same time. Besides,
building a east-west underground pedestrian channel across the plaza connects the Song
Garden entrance plaza, the South Gate central plaza and Miao Garden entrance square,
successfully separate the pedestrians flow and vehicle traffic to achieve a gorgeous three-
dimensional interoperability.
The Song Garden plot:

The original antique-style buildings is retain and organized new

constructions in the form of setback to echo the existing surroundings. The terrestrial
landscape .Also, by restoring and renovating the pool with night lighting and elevation
variation, we set free underground space as greening effectively.
The Miao Garden plot:
The sunken central square connects the whole base; ground buildings
locate in the northeast corner of the site in the shape of setback, forming a space limit for the
city gate.

Landscape design relies on the rich height difference of the terrain, plus
the artistic flows of water, to achieve a multi-layered green system and thus create a people-
oriented, transformational landscape.
South Gate block:
The original pedestrian tunnel from the South Main Street to the inner
plaza of the South Gate is extended. Through this technique, we try to guide the pedestrian
into the South Gate area in order to achieve a three-dimensional separation of people and
vehicle flow.
CONCLUSION:
This reconstruction, the South Gate Plaza—with its focus on the historic
city wall—now highlights the profound cultural connotation of Xi’an. It creates a
harmonious atmosphere between humans and nature.The South Gate Plaza has become an
important carrier for the comprehensive development of modern city, as the living room of
this ancient capital city: Xi’an.