A LoFt Tide of turning the old into the New

3 min read

In December 2001, Ms Wu haiyan, a professor of China academy of Art and a famous fashion designer, held a large-scale garment press conference entitled Viewpoint 2002 at No 706 Factory in Beijing This press conference set up an unprecedented example for the LoFt tide in China. Tall and spacious factory buildings, discarded mottled iron gatesbsolete ice-cold piping, and those unique industrial elements in the factory have all become important signs of LOFT everywhere in China. The so-called LOFT means the tall and spacious spaces transformed from obsolete factories or warehouses with few partitions of interior walls. This creative idea of turning waste into wealth was born in the Soho District in New York but now it has met with warm respon in qulte a few places in China.Artists work and even live in the old buildings that have taken on an entirely new aspect.

The No 798 Art Factory in Beijing is the most famous loft area in China. the factory constructed in early 1950s with the aid of the former Soviet Union, is located at the Dashanzi area at the northeastern corner of Beijing, which used to be a sign of advanced technology and science. The well-preserved old-style wooden floor, brick walls, cement pavement, wooden pillars and posts, tall roof, windows, ceiling lamps with huge iron hades, stainless steel bolts, and aluminum structural parts with rough surface-all this gives people an impression of coldness and thriftiness. Nowadays, this area has become a place where a large number of people are engaged in creative industry, such as architectsadvertising brokers, writers, photographers, musicians, lawyers, psychologists, etc. Theyhave rearranged and decorated those obsolete small-sized factory buildings and warehouses and turned them into bars, restaurants, dwellings, offices and performance venues with their respective unique styles.

Ms Liu Suola, a vanguard writer and musician, has settled down her home in the obsolete factory building. She cuts apart the warehouse space in an ingenious way, mainly using metals and glass for decoration to integrate her home with the whole warehouse, so that the warehouse is cut into two independent but closely-related spaces by a two two-layer structure design in depth. the large and comfortable bathtub and the dinning table made of iron and glass are unique sights of the warehouse life.

The No 798 Factory has become one of the lands for modern arts in Beijing There are over 100 art galleries, art centers, Chinese and Western restaurants, clubs, and art a platform for international cultural exchanges. “These days when I come to Beijing, besides going to shop at the xiushuijie street, i also pay a visit to the no 798 factory to enjoy arts, says an Englishman who often comes to Beijing for traveling.

No 49 Hangying Road is the birthplace of the loft culture in hangzhou It used to be an area for large-scale state-owned factories. After social changes for over a decade, this old factory area became gradually obsolete. In September 2002, this valuable warehouse resource was discovered by some artists and designers with a keen sense of smell. With the settlement of the Design Company of the United States (DI), a large number of enthusiastic artists anddesigners have settled down successively in the No.49 Warehouse. In a short period of a few years, almost twenty art studios and design companies have gathered here and attracted non government investment of tens of millions of yuan. The rise of the loft 49 has given an impact to the ideas of the government as well as to the urban planning designers creative industry is also growing up step by step in hangzhou.

The loft provides favorable circumstances for creative industry to settle down and also a place for creative talents to stay. to find new economy in the obsolete factory buildings also makes the loft a great creative idea.