Jiatong Han (Tonya)

Professor Klepper

English 113B

24 October 2013

             In this day and age, old buildings still abound in many metropolises where new office complexes and residential developments. Even though everyone agrees in principle that old buildings carry cultural, educational or artistic value. But with the development of modern cities, both in population size and in functionality, some old buildings have already occupied our space such as  the pichaiyuan of Qingdao. Qingdao pichaiyuan was originally constructed in the early 1900’s during the German occupation. But today it has become dilapidated.

           Given the seriousness of this problem, how to solve this problem? From my point of view, Firstly, the governments should try to repair and preserve the old buildings, and they have witnessed the vicissitude of the cities. We should pay more attention to their cultural value instead of their appearances. Since some historic buildings have influenced the cityscape in various degrees, then what should we do to deal with them？ So if the historic buildings don't occupy the important areas, governments can repair and preserve them, and the areas where they are located can be transformed into scenic spots or museums. Actions like this do protect the old buildings and meanwhile thicken the cities' cultural atmosphere, and then help the cities to develop the tourist industry and economy and enhance more popularity.  On the other hand, if these old buildings have already occupied the important areas, governments should demolish that. As Kenneth Kidd saying that “First we shape our buildings, then they shape us, then we shape them again.” In today’s world, economy, science and technology is developing so rapidly, so that in our city, we need more space to build new buildings to adapt the new society. When some old buildings occupied the space and hindered the development of cities, they need to be improved. When the government torn downed the old Gene's Market in July, the resident said building held a lot of memories, and it is like a piece of their town is missing. But they still “hope to see the city rebuild and bring new businesses to their downtown area” by a resident.

                                                         Works Cited

Kenneth, Kidd. “Historic Buildings: The Problem with Preservation.” The start. Sat Jan 08 2011.

EBSCO. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.

“Historic Warren building torn down, town looks to future.” Wane. Sat July 6. 2013.

Colton. “PiChai Yuan (Firewood Court)- Qingdao Old Town.” This Qingdao. Fri Oct 07 2011