The architecture of railway stations in Shenyang in the first half of the 20th century

Pugacheva Ekaterina Alekseevna ORCID: 0009-0004-2841-3699 Assistant Professor, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Pacific National University 680035, Russia, Khabarovsk Territory, Khabarovsk, st. Pacific, 135, office 506g km.904@yandex.ru Kim Anton Andreevich ORCID: 0000-0002-3739-5048 PhD in Architecture Associate Professor, Department of Higher School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Pacific National University 680035, Russia, Khabarovsk Territory, Khabarovsk, st. Pacific, 136, office 527c ant.kim@mail.ru Pakulova Ekaterina Pavlovna Student, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Pacific National University 680035, Russia, Khabarovsk Territory, Khabarovsk, st. Pacific, 135, office 506g 2022100451@pnu.edu.ru

Chernyshova Anastasiya Vital'evna Student, Department of Architecture and Urban Planning, Pacific National University 680035, Russia, Khabarovsk Territory, Khabarovsk, st. Pacific, 135, office 506g 2022100433@pnu.edu.ru

Introduction. The modern stage of urban development in Northeast China began at the end of the 19th century and is associated with the beginning of the construction of the CER as the first railway in the region. A feature of this development was the almost complete disregard for the established historical Chinese and Manchurian settlements, as a result of which new cities were built either on practically undeveloped sites or at some distance from the established national settlements. This approach made it possible both to test new urban planning techniques and to significantly increase the role of railway stations, which began to act as centers of settlement development. One of the most striking examples of this development is Shenyang, also known as Mukden. Being one of the most ancient and largest cities in the region, Shenyang was distinguished by the use of the classical Chinese orthogonal layout, inscribed in a square, which it received as the capital of the Qing Dynasty in 1636-1644. However, when tracing the railway line, the historical part of the city was deliberately left aside, and the main development was focused on the new "colonial" city, the centers of which were consistently various railway stations.

Literature review. Unlike the central regions of China, the history of Manchurian architecture has been studied to a lesser extent. The Russian Scientific School played a significant role in the study of the region, thanks to the study of the architectural heritage of Russian architects and engineers during the construction of the CER and the white emigration, which, in turn, was due to both the preserved material heritage and a large number of Russian-language archival materials exported by the Soviet government in the 1940s and 1950s to the Soviet Union. It is possible to identify such researchers who in their works studied the influence of the CER, which played a huge role in the development of the territory of Manchuria: E. A. Pugacheva ^[1], Yu. V. Ordynskaya ^[2]. In turn, N. P. Kradin ^[3], S. S. Levoshko ^[4], A. P. Ivanova ^{[5, 6]}, E. V. Glatolenkova ^[7] mainly studied the architecture of new cities (stations), the architecture of which combined European and Chinese traditional elements. The works of M. E. Bazilevich ^{[8, 9]}, D. S. Tseluiko ^[10], T. A. Smolyaninova ^{[11, 12]} consider certain types of buildings located throughout China.

Among Chinese scientists, the works of Yu can be distinguished. Li ^[13], B. Yu ^[14], whose works consider individual buildings of various Chinese cities. In general, the issues of urban development in Manchuria in the first half of the 20th century were repeatedly raised in scientific discourse, including in studies of the development of railway construction by E. Denison and G. Ren ^[15], L. Victoire and V. Zatsepin ^[16].

The architecture of Shenyang is known primarily for its imperial tombs and palace, which were studied in the works of S. Liang ^[17], V. I. Luchkova ^[18] and A. A. Khisamutdinov and T. Chu ^[19]. At the same time, there are significantly fewer publications devoted to the architecture of Shenyang in the first half of the 20th century, especially compared to cities such as Harbin, Changchun and Dalian. Many of them were written by Japanese authors, which is primarily due to the high role of Japan in shaping the appearance of the city of this period: B. Cheng et al. ^[20], L. Tan et al. ^[21].

Materials and methods. Various literary and digital sources, as well as cartographic materials, served as materials for the analysis of constructed railway stations in Shenyang in the first half of the 20th century. The analysis of archival photographs made it possible to determine the initial appearance of the objects, as well as to identify the main patterns of stylistic techniques.

The Russian railway station Mukden. The appearance of the first railway station dates back to 1898, when, after signing an agreement on the construction of the CER on the entire territory leased from China, the Russian Empire began to build small settlements — railway stations near existing Chinese cities.

A station was also laid near the city of Shenyang, which, despite the large size of the city and its potential strategic importance, was designed according to the requirements of Class IV stations ^[22]. In accordance with the standard drawings of the KVZhD, it meant the construction of a small number of buildings: a passenger building, a fanza for the Chinese, a traffic service, station security, station barracks, track security, track barracks, residential areas with vegetable gardens.

At the same time, as at other stations of the KVZhD, it was the passenger building that was the main object and acted as the compositional center of the future settlement. Thus, it became the hallmark of the city due to the fact that the guests of the city saw this particular building first and last when visiting the settlement.

Considering the architecture of the building, it can be noted that, despite the location at the IV class station, an individual architectural design was applied here, which differs from the standard stations presented in the drawing albums of the KVZhD, but corresponds to them in volume and compositional structure ^[22]. An analysis of historical photographs showed that, most likely, before the construction of the station in question, it was temporarily housed in a small standard building. However, by at least 1905 The main building has been erected.

The single-storey asymmetrical building combined elements of European and Chinese architecture (Fig. 1). At the same time, unlike a number of typical projects, Chinese elements were not expressed and were limited to the decoration of the ridge in the form of a bas-relief dragon and the completion in the form of a traditional Chinese chiwen. It is not entirely clear whether this idea was a conscious intention of the authors or the result of attracting local builders to the construction work. The facades of the building were quite typical for the stations located in the southern part of the KVZhD line. The decor was limited to the use of stacked pilasters and sandricks with platbands reaching up to half the height of the window. And the cornice belt was decorated with teeth.

Figure 1. Mukden Station. The facade from the forecourt. Reconstruction by E. A. Pugacheva based on photographic materials ^{[23, 24]}.

The main compositional axes ran along the pediment inserts, the central one of which was used as the main entrance group. The completion of the pediments was accentuated by the use of parapet pedestals, which emphasized the vertical direction of the pilasters, and the rebound from the main plane of the wall was made in the form of teeth. Such a weak cornice belt from afar created a feeling of gable completion. The angles of the slopes of the gables, as well as their elaboration, differed in nuances and gave a pronounced asymmetry to the composition of the facades with the displacement of the compositional axis to the edge of the facade.

After the capture of Mukden by Japanese troops in 1905, the central part and the roof were destroyed. During the restoration of the building, the center was built over with a massive parapet, so that the compositional center shifted to this area, which was more in line with the principles of Japanese architecture. The roof received smaller eaves with support on the eaves belt without the use of fillies, which also corresponded to the principles of Asian architecture.

Due to the fact that the station belonged to Class IV, the urban planning composition was limited to the creation of one main street leading to the forecourt. This approach significantly distinguishes the development of the urban planning structure of Shenyang from more significant stations, which implied the formation of radiation systems that simultaneously serve as discharge arteries. Thus, at the time of the formation of the Russian "colonial" city, urban planners had not laid down the potential for significant growth of the territory.

South Railway station. After Russia's defeat in the Russian-Japanese War under the Portsmouth Peace Treaty, Shenyang moved into the zone of Japanese control. The railway line acquired by Japan between Changchun Station and Lushunkou (Port Arthur) was renamed the South Manchurian Railway (YMZHD), and the former station building was demolished. A kilometer to the south, a new railway station was built in 1910, which was subsequently completed for many years. The project was developed by the Japanese Takeshi Ota, and then finalized by Sotaro Yoshida. The first floor of the station was used as a waiting room, and the second floor was originally used by the Yamato Hotel with more than 20 rooms.

The Shenyang Railway Station building was built in the Tatsuno style (Fig. 2). It is a symmetrical two-story red brick building with a gray-green dome and a round skylight in it. The building is characterized by a complex multi-axial composition passing through the risalites and towers, as well as the diversity of planes, which is achieved by a complex shape of the plan. Such a complicated composition led to the use of different decorative elements on different parts of the facade (Fig. 3). Triangular pediments, wide cornices, stucco molding, round skylights on three domes, and carved round windows on the central dome were prevalent.

Figure 2. South Railway Station ^[25]

Figure 3. South Railway Station. The facade from the forecourt

One of the connecting elements of this composition was the color scheme characteristic of the Tatsuno style, which was based on the contrast of decorative elements made of white marble, usually in the form of horizontal belts, pilasters and platbands, with the main material of the red brick facade. It was these inserts that gave the compositional integrity to the building and united various compositional groups.

Taking into account the high degree of typologization of objects of Japanese architecture, we can talk about the use of analogues located in the metropolis. Most likely, for this project, Tokyo Station acted as such (Fig. 4), which was designed by Kingo Tatsuno, after whom the tatsuno style will be named in the future ^[10]. Despite the different scales of the objects, it is possible to distinguish the use of complex plans with systems of local compositional axes subordinate to the main entrance groups, accentuated by dome completions. A characteristic stylistic technique is the dissection of the plane of the red brick walls with white rods. This solution can be seen in many of Tatsuno's other works, such as the Kyoto Branch of the Bank of Japan (1906, now the Kyoto Museum of Culture) and the former head office of the Morioka Bank (1911).

Figure 4. Tokyo Railway Station

It is worth noting that Tokyo Station itself, in turn, was a reinterpretation of Amsterdam Central Station (Fig. 5), designed by Kuipers. At the same time, despite the similarity of compositional and stylistic techniques in the form of the use of local compositional axes, emphasized by turrets, the influence of Baroque forms with their complex domes can be traced to a greater extent in Tokyo Station, while Amsterdam Station is an allusion to Neo-Gothic with characteristic sharp gables, tents and spires of towers.

Figure 5. Amsterdam Railway Station

It is difficult to overestimate the town-planning significance of the station. Abandoning the utilitarian layout laid down by Russian architects and placing the station on an undeveloped site, Japanese urban planners applied the three-beam system, which was used at higher-class stations. It was this system converging at the railway station that predetermined the compositional development of the city for the coming decades, and also influenced the development of ensembles of streets and squares. This is how the forecourt began to be built up initially, where objects made in the Tatsuno style prevailed in style. The facades of the main streets of trekhluchy began to be built up from the central square in a similar style, which made it possible to form a single urban planning ensemble. This system had a significant impact on the development of urban space and continued its development during the Manchukuo period.

Vostochny Railway Station. The history of this station begins with the decision of the Fenghai authorities in 1922 to build a private Fenghai railway connecting Shenyang with Jilin via Meihekou ^[26]. Thus, this railway station was not part of the YUMZHD system and was located outside the zone of Japanese "colonial" quarters.

All construction of the railway and related infrastructure was carried out entirely under the guidance of Chinese engineers using domestically produced materials and Chinese funds, which reflected strong national self-esteem and showed that the Chinese could build railways and train stations on their own, without relying on foreign forces, whose influence in the region was enormous at that time.

The building of the Sheiyanna East Railway Station is made of reinforced concrete. The main facade is symmetrical (Fig. 6), the central block is three-storied, has a dark green domed end, under which there is a light pavilion. The east and west wings are two-storied. The building is a classic representative of the so-called Chinese-Western style, which eclectically combined various elements and motifs of Western architecture. The building in question is dominated by elements of neoclassicism, which manifest themselves in the form of an exaggerated portico on the facade facing the station square and a colonnade facing the railway lines.

Figure 6. Vostochny Railway Station. The facade from the forecourt

However, the proportions of the pilasters in the form of an Ionic order, as well as the solution of the portico in the form of an arcade with an elliptical arch shape, and a small-scale keystone playing a purely decorative role, give out the characteristic features of Chinese architecture of the first third of the 20th century and show the relative immaturity of Chinese architecture, which has just begun to be rebuilt under the influence of international architectural schools.

It is also worth noting that when designing the building, it was not included in the general development plan of the city. In fact, the station was built on the periphery of the Chinese part of the settlement without taking into account its further urban development. All this led to the absence of any front entrances to the forecourt, which was purely utilitarian in nature. This approach to design went against the approach of Japanese and Russian urban planners who integrated railway stations into the existing urban environment.

Already after the formation of Manchukuo, due to the weak development of this area, a project was developed for the formation of an urban planning ensemble based on orthogonal planning and the use of a three-beam converging to the station. This planning structure was preserved at least until the 1960s, however, due to the lack of representative objects on the paved streets, it has been lost to this day. Thus, during the Manchukuo period, an attempt was made to combine disparate points into a single urban planning ensemble in accordance with the principles of the Japanese urban planning school.

North Railway Station

The construction of the Northern Railway Station is in many ways similar to the construction of the Eastern Railway Station. Here, the main customers were the authorities of the Chinese part of the city, which was reflected in the designers involved, the style and composition of the object, and the station itself belonged not to the YUMZHD, but to the Beijing-Mukden Railway.

Thus, the famous architect Yang Tingbao, who worked on the project with Liang Sicheng, became the designer of the former North Station. In 1926, the Shenyang government announced a tender for the construction of a new station, in which many foreign designers participated. At first, Yang Tingbao wanted to design the terminal in Liaoning in the form of a modern European-style building, but the Jingfeng railway authorities and other colleagues preferred to use the composition of the Qianmen Railway Station in Beijing (Fig. 7) ^[26], thus fixing the end and beginning of the railway line.

Figure 7. Beijing Qianmen Railway Station

 Taking this concept as a basis, Yang Tingbao abandoned the original design and adjusted the project, which eventually won the competition. Already in 1927, the foundation of the "New Fengtian Railway Station" was laid, which was completed in 1930 and was renamed the "Liaoning Main Station".

Considering the station building, it is necessary to note its unusual three-dimensional composition (Fig. 8). Like the East Station, it can be attributed to an example of Chinese-Western architecture. At the same time, the sources of borrowing were most likely Japanese buildings, which was reflected in the main division of the wings of buildings, in which the inter-window spaces were filled with relief and accentuated with color. The difference was the proportions of the windows, which tended to 2:3, while in Japanese architecture the proportions of 1:2 prevailed. The central two-storey entrance group is a characteristic example of Sino-Western architecture with a pediment completion, as well as the use of thin columns with an intercolumnium pitch equal to the height of the column, which is also a feature of the Chinese architectures where the proportionation was based on a square. At the same time, the compositional accent was a semicircular arch rising above the main volume of the building. This element is made in the style of modernism, which, together with its volume and height, makes it stand out sharply against the background of the main building. At the same time, this arch was an interpretation of the gentle arch of Beijing Qianmen Railway Station. At the same time, it was designed precisely as an allusion, and not a literal repetition, because in the building of the Beijing Railway Station it played the role of an auxiliary compositional element.

Figure 8. The Northern Railway Station. The facade from the forecourt

In general, Shenyang North Station became not only the largest station building on the railway in a modern style, but also one of the most memorable urban buildings of the early 1930s. The freight yard, luggage room, restaurant, hotel, station square and other facilities of the Liaoning terminus were all part of the station. At the same time, the lack of territorial planning, as in the case of the Eastern Station, did not allow the projected object to be included in the urban planning ensemble. At the same time, due to the high density of the existing buildings, no parade approach to the station was created already during the Manchukuo period. Thus, the Central Station of Shenyang continued to play a major role.

Conclusion. The analysis of the selected analogues revealed the cross-cultural continuity of the stylistics of the projects and their analogues. It is worth noting the high role of architectural style as a means of broadcasting political influence. It can be noted that over time, the number of floors, the length of the span and the area of glazing increased, but there was a reduction in the decor, which indicates the manifestation of the ideas of modernism.

The architecture of railway stations can be divided into three types: Russian, Japanese and Chinese. The analysis of the development of the Russian station indicates its secondary importance, which was reflected in the application of standard design techniques. Despite the status of a Class IV station, already here it became an urban planning dominant, which closed the main street. The development of the Japanese station showed both continuity to the architecture of the metropolis and an integrated approach to development, when the object of the railway structure became the center of settlement development. In parallel, the architecture of the Chinese stations represented by the Northern and Eastern Terminals developed. Both are characterized by the construction of majestic objects by Chinese architects, engineers, and builders. At the same time, architecture is a typical example of the Sino-Western style, which shows a lack of understanding of the proportions and tectonics of European architecture. In general, these buildings were in many ways a manifesto of the Chinese authorities, showing the ability to design independently without the involvement of foreign specialists. All this was expressed in the dispersed placement of such objects and the lack of their integration into the urban environment. Already in the period of Manchukuo, this integration was carried out as far as possible, but it was based on the principles of the Japanese urban planning school.