Consular Buildings as an Image of Foreign Architecture in the Cities of Northeast China

Smol'yaninova Tat'yana Anatol'evna ORCID: 0000-0001-9328-5524 Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture and Urbanistics, Pacific National University 680035, Russia, Khabarovskii krai, g. Khabarovsk, ul. Tikhookeanskaya, 136, of. 506b design.total@yandex.ru

Introduction. The architectural heritage of European countries on the territory of Manchuria is of interest to scientists and historians who study the historical past of the cities of Northeast China. With the opening of cities for foreign trade and the formation of foreign settlements, the previously sparsely populated, but promising territory began to develop. Thus, on the territory of Manchuria, in particular, under the influence of the construction of the railway network, developed European settlements and cities began to appear on the basis of Chinese cities and towns, in which both Chinese and European populations lived side by side. The rapid pace of economic and, consequently, cultural development has led to the emergence of such facilities as hospitals, hotels, theaters, post offices, etc. Consular missions of foreign Powers began to be established to settle relations and conduct political negotiations. Diplomatic missions and consulates, including police stations and courts, were supposed to ensure the interests of the population of their countries in relations with representatives of other countries and the Chinese Government. It was at the beginning of the XX century that the stage of opening and establishing diplomatic missions took place, some of them have survived to the present in the historical buildings of Manchurian cities.

The purpose of the study is to identify the stylistic and compositional features of the architecture of buildings that housed consular offices during the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century. The subject of the study is the buildings of consular offices in the cities of Northeast China. The object of the study was the architectural features of the preserved buildings of consular offices and their location in the cities of Manchuria.

The research methodology includes the study of literature on the research topic, archival search, analysis of cartographic materials, historical photographs and full-scale research of objects. A summary of the collected materials and the results obtained are presented in the article. The research was based on empirical methods, such as observation and survey, on their basis a brief historical sketch of the objects of observation was compiled. The theoretical basis is based on analysis, classification and generalization. Comparative analysis of the objects allowed us to develop a classification of influencing factors on the choice of placement of consulates in the city structure. This made it possible to identify patterns of representativeness of objects depending on the urban planning position of objects. Generalization of the stylistic features of the objects under consideration made it possible to identify the main stylistic directions of the countries of the consular offices.

The theoretical basis of the research is the work of Russian and foreign scientists covering certain aspects described in this article. In literary and Internet sources devoted to this topic, it was possible to identify three types of placement of consular offices in the cities of Northeast China. The results obtained are the basis for further study of the architecture of consular offices in the cities of Manchuria.

The architecture of consular institutions has not been considered in full by almost anyone and therefore is of interest primarily from the point of view of architectural features of this type of buildings, in particular planning and spatial. In Russia, N. P. was one of the first to become interested in the architecture of Manchuria and its analysis. Kradin ^{[1, 2]} and S. S. Levoshko ^[3], whose works consider the legacy of Russian and European engineers. The architecture of the KVZhD of the late XIX – first third of the XX century is devoted to the dissertation of T. Yu . Troitskaya ^[4]. These works were the first and significant step in the study of the Russian architectural heritage and their influence on the formation of the visual appearance of the historical cities of Manchuria. In addition, the works of N. E. Kozyrenko, Hongwei Yang, A. P. Ivanova ^{[5, 6, 7]} and Yu. V. Ordynskaya ^[8] are of interest. Chinese researchers are engaged in compiling catalogs of preserved and lost buildings ^[9], for example, in the work "The Condensed Music" ^[10], fairly detailed drawings of some preserved objects are presented. In foreign Internet sources, it was possible to identify information about the lost projects and their authors, for which it was partially possible to establish the history of the objects to which the consulates were located. Periodicals published in Harbin and Sydney, Russian-language newspapers and magazines such as Zarya, Rupor, Forward and Polytechnic were also used as sources. The materials of the AVPRI, RGIA, and GAHK funds played an important role in the study.

As a result of the analysis of consular facilities, it was found that during the period under review, consular offices of such countries as Russia, Great Britain, Japan, USA, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Spain, Portugal, and Switzerland, Latvia, Czechoslovakia were opened on the territory of Manchuria, Poland. In total, 64 such institutions were identified, which are represented by 86 objects, of which 20 institutions were specially built for consular needs.

Placement of consular offices. With such a rapid pace of settlement of the territory and the formation of foreign quarters, there is still selectivity in the selection of objects for the placement of consular offices. Here I would like to highlight three main aspects that reveal this moment. Firstly, the emphasis is on the urban planning position of the site or object in relation to important points of attraction, which include the railway, and in particular the railway station, which can be seen in cities such as Harbin, Manchuria, Changchun and Qiqihar. This is due to the fact that these cities were in the zone of influence of Russia, the administrative center of these cities is closely connected with the railway junction, which affects the choice of the location of the consulate, namely closer to the border of the railway tracks and the station, as this has a great impact on the development and functioning of consular institutions. This type of city has a developed administrative and commercial hub with trading houses and cultural facilities that allow consuls to carry out their functions.

The second type of placement includes the choice of an object in the administrative centers of European quarters, which can be traced in the cities of Dalian, Shenyang and Jilin. This is typical for the already established hub cities, the formation of which continued far from the historical Chinese centers. These cities emerged during a period of rapid development of productive and commercial forces that developed quite quickly in accordance with the needs and opportunities of economic growth of cities. In them, as a rule, there is a rapid expansion of the European urban center, where the most significant buildings in the city are located: administrative buildings, shopping facilities, restaurants and hotels, residential buildings and public facilities. When choosing a site or facility for consular offices, the proximity to the administrative center of the city and the main transport arteries, as well as proximity or proximity to friendly countries or their consular missions were taken into account.

As a third type of placement, cities formed on the basis of old Chinese centers and their suburbs are considered, which often grow so far beyond the natural boundaries of the city that it becomes completely unclear how the city will develop. These include Dandong, Yingkou, Teling, Jilin. The town-planning position of consular offices in such cities can be completely different.

In choosing objects for consular offices, in addition to the town-planning situation, not only the architectural characteristics of the objects, but also the buildings located nearby, their functional content and proximity to consulates of other countries had to be taken into account. In accordance with this, when placing new consular offices, it was decided to use only those buildings that were distinguished by architectural expressiveness and presentability, while a number of requirements were imposed on the size of the possessions and the autonomy of the site usually occupying strategic importance in the urban structure. This was done in order to ensure unhindered access to their facilities, which emphasizes the need for the use of office, technical and residential premises of employees. To a greater extent, this is reflected in the choice of objects in the cities of Harbin and Dalian, since most of the buildings were located in the administrative district of the city, occupying mansions built according to individual projects.

Brief description of the buildings of consulates. Historical processes in Northern China, which took place from the end of the XIX to the second half of the XX century, as already noted above, led to the formation of consular offices in different countries. During this period, the addresses of consular offices were repeatedly changed, and many were completely lost. Such buildings stood out against the general background of urban development, as evidenced by the preserved historical photographs and panoramas of cities. The architecture of the buildings often reflected the spirit of the country they represented. Both Russian and foreign engineers were engaged in the design of facilities on the territory of Manchuria, in particular consulates, among which K. H. can be distinguished. Denisova, A. I. Stepanova, Yu. P. Zhdanova, K. K. Iokish, S. A. Vincent, M. A. Troyanovsky, Kazy-Giray, yap. architects Shiro Mihashi and Shiro Mitsuhashi, as well as various foreign architectural bureaus, primarily Japanese and British ^{[11, 12, 13]}. Stylistic diversity is noted not only on the facades, but also in the architectural and compositional organization of buildings and the planning zoning of consular sections. The main trends in the architecture of consular institutions peculiar to Russia and a number of other European countries during the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century were the prevailing stylistic trends of the metropolis, which were transferred to East Asia. In general, consulates represent various styles – from neoclassicism and Renaissance to neo-modern. The analysis of the figurative solution of these consular buildings revealed a number of compositional techniques for organizing their facades (Table 1). For classic mansions, for example, a symmetrical composition of facades relative to the central axis, an unpaired number of window openings, accentuation with porticos, risalites, rustication, belts, the texture of the base is characteristic. Eclectic buildings, in particular those made with modernist motifs, are distinguished by the asymmetric composition of facades, the presence of bay windows, the active use of color and texture. With the angular location of such objects in urban development, they are often accentuated by turrets, various forms of domes and tents with a spire, creating spatial compositions of urban development.

Table 1. Architectural appearance of consular buildings

It should be noted the importance of sculptural and decorative elements in the artistic and compositional construction of the facades of consulates and their importance in enhancing the stylistic effect. First of all, these are details and elements using relief images of people and animals (Table. 2), clear geometric shapes and figures, ornaments of plant origin. Friezes are formed with ornamental motifs, windows are decorated, tympanums of pediments and portals are filled, blades, pilasters and entablatures are decorated. The architectural decor of the buildings of the consular offices was an important link in the formation of the architecture of Manchuria.

Table 2. Sculptural and decorative elements of facades of consular buildings

Conclusion. A brief analysis of the architectural features of consular buildings in the cities of Manchuria during the late nineteenth and first half of the twentieth century allows us to conclude that this type of structures is important for the formation of compositional structures of cities, increasing its prestige. The architecture of the consular buildings, reflecting the stylistics of different countries, fills the cities with a stylistic flavor, a high level of improvement of the territories adjacent to these buildings. The consular buildings that have been preserved to this day represent a valuable historical and architectural heritage that is subject not only to study, but also to preservation as historical and cultural monuments.

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