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Old Summer Palace digitalized in Beijing's industrial remains
Source: Xinhua | Updated: 2020-07-22 09:35:24
The Old Summer Palace, or "Yuanmingyuan" in Chinese, has been digitally recreated in a reclaimed century-old steel plant in western Beijing.
After more than 20 years of historical research on the Old Summer Palace, Professor Guo Daiheng's team from the School of Architecture at Tsinghua University in Beijing held an exhibition via advanced internet and visual technology, including 5G, AR and AI, in the Shougang Industrial Park last weekend.
The exhibition shows how the Old Summer Palace, construction of which began in 1707 in Beijing, flourished before it was burned down and its sculptures looted by the Anglo-French allied forces during the Second Opium War in 1860.
Yang Si, a team member and executive curator of the exhibition, said that to let the public know more about the true history, Professor Guo, who is a disciple of famed Chinese architect Liang Sicheng, has been exploring technical ways since 1999 to "restore" the Old Summer Palace.
Based on preliminary archaeological findings, the project team spent years searching for old photos and etchings in many large museums at home and abroad in order to reconstruct the historical features of various pieces of architecture in the park, and both the Chinese and foreign experts gave them strong support.
The team came across some new findings during the research. For example, the members found many broken glass decorations in baroque style in the warehouse of the Old Summer Palace. After comparing them with those in the historical photos of the western architecture creations in the park, they recreated part of the architectural pieces' color images.
At present, 65 percent of the park has been digitally restored. "With the deepening of our research, the proportion will increase further," said Yang.
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