International Social Science Journal (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2025

 

 

Tan Gangyi, Geng Xuchu, Cao Xiaomao and Gao Yizhuo

 

In the 1960s and 1970s, under the influence of the three key elements of “production–war preparedness–topography,” industrial plants and mines in the Third Front Construction followed the principle of “Three-Simultaneous Construction: Concurrent Surveying, Designing, and Building” to form an efficient spatial production method for industrial architecture and to construct a spatial fabric oriented toward war preparedness. Following the end of the war-preparedness-oriented Third Front Construction in the 1980s, and the large-scale relocation of Third Front enterprises beginning in the 1990s, a substantial number of industrial remains were created, entering a stage of spatial reproduction. The value deconstruction of the Third Front heritage could be approached from three perspectives of architecture, environment, and culture. Based on the dilemmas faced in the use and protection of these remains, a gradient activation strategy, distinct from traditional heritage conservation, should be formulated. Incorporating a large number of industrial remains not previously included in the category of Third Front heritage into the scope of activation strategy research, helps provide a new theoretical framework for understanding the spatial evolution and transformative regeneration of industrial civilization during this special historical period.