Steel Home Still: Exhibition of Urban Regeneration Achievements of Shougang Industrial Heritage Park & No.3 Blast Furnace Museum

On September 22, 2018, an exhibition regarding the design and renovation process of the Shougang Industrial Park and the Three-Furnace Museum opened at St. Catherine's Church in Venice. As stated in the exhibition title “Casting Memories,” we positioned the exhibition as presenting the history, present, and future of the Shougang Industrial Park from individual to family narratives, exploring the transformation path of China's modernization, represented by Shougang from a micro perspective. As curators and designers, we hoped to shift the monotonous architectural display toward reproducing specific places and memories. Listening to real stories of “people,” we aimed to enable the audience to empathize and break the cultural barriers. Unlike conventional exhibitions, this exhibition utilized media languages from various fields such as architecture, film, stage setting, graphic design, literature, multimedia, photography, etc., immersing the audience in Venice into the time memory belonging to Shougang. From a macro perspective, it outlined the revitalization of the capital city represented by Shougang Park. At the same time, it inspired the audience to think about discussions around China's historical memory in a cross-cultural context. The “Casting Memories” exhibition consisted of a set of spatial devices shaped in steel boxes, divided into spaces with a series of exhibition themes: new and old drawing rooms that present a mirror relationship, a furnace control room, a cultural activity room, residential and other typical living spaces for worker production. Teams from different fields constructed narratives within the same spatial framework. Based on the story of Shougang father and son, written by young writer Fangzhou Jiang, the exhibition presented multiple spaces that showcase the work and life of two generations of Shougang people. Based on the thematic display completed by the curation team, the new media team also translated the story script into audio-visual language that responds to the multi-dimensional time and space. The sound and dynamic images were seamlessly integrated into the scene, providing supplementary explanations of the exhibits and their historical background. Meanwhile, they broke away from the prescribed narrative and created a sense of time difference and drama. The exhibition not only gathered audiences from different cultural backgrounds to participate actively through immersive montage space experiences but also continued exploring multi-angle narratives. The exhibition established the connection between space, objects, and text, endowing a single space with multiple narratives and reading depths.

Project Information Project Type: Curation, Exhibition Design and Installation Design Project Location: Venice General Planner: Hongtao Bo Curators: Zigeng Wang, Hongtao Bo Spatial Design Guidance: Zigeng Wang Spatial Design Team: Yannan Ding, Yu Tang, Junyu Wen Scenic Art Direction: Nali Zhao Narrative Script: Fangzhou Jiang Narrative Design: Lei Shang Digital Media Creative Director: Jun Fei/ MOUJITI ART+TECH Modeling Guidance: Yijie Chen Graphic Design: Zhizhi Liu/ Studio NA.EO Construction Team: Shanghai Tongying Cultural Communication Center Client (Contracting Unit): Shougang Group, CCTN Design Completion Time: September 2018