Renmin Canal Zhongjiang Memorial Hall AOMOMO Studio, Shanghai Jiao Tong

The Renmin Canal Water Conservancy Culture Zhongjiang Memorial Hall shows how architecture can turn water engineering history into a meaningful public experience. Designed by AOMOMO Studio of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, this 2,800-square-meter memorial hall was completed in 2025.

The memorial hall sits within the former Chengde Industrial Park as part of the Deyang Kaizhou New City development. It treats the Renmin Canal as a long arc—from its Han Dynasty origins to today’s irrigation system—while honoring the efforts of educated youth and local residents.

ArchDaily highlighted the project on April 27, 2026.

Project Overview and Design Context

The memorial hall occupies about 2,800 m² within the former Chengde Industrial Park. It anchors the Kaizhou New City framework led by the municipal government of Deyang.

Kaizhou New City is planned as a new industrial hub on the eastern foothill of Longquan Mountain. It aligns with other development zones in the region.

The building’s program focuses on the canal’s material and cultural legacy. Exhibition spaces, archival facilities, and public landscapes are woven into a cohesive experience.

The AOMOMO Studio team worked with Shanghai Jiao Tong University to interpret a centuries-old water system for a modern city. Photographic documentation illustrates the project’s form and context.

• Interpretive spaces tracing the Renmin Canal’s evolution from Han Dynasty beginnings to modern irrigation networks
• Public terraces and landscape layers that read as a commemorative terrain within the redevelopment
• Archives and display areas designed to preserve and present historical records
• Photographic documentation used to anchor memory in visual records
• Integration with industrial heritage linking past manufacturing zones to present-day civic life

Architectural Narrative and Material Memory

The memorial hall uses architecture to show the canal’s technical evolution through space. The design highlights the canal’s material and cultural legacy with a sequence of spaces that move visitors from history to today.

By sharing the stories of educated youth and local residents who helped build the canal, the project makes memory visible as public infrastructure. The architecture aims to link past and present, inviting visitors to experience engineering progress through place and scale.

Photographic documentation ensures that memory is preserved in visual form for future audiences.

Urban Integration and Cultural Significance

The hall is both a cultural institution and a commemorative landscape. It offers a civic space that educates, remembers, and inspires.

It serves as a public interface between industrial history and city life. The landscape design forms a memorial within Kaizhou New City and along the eastern slope of Longquan Mountain.

The project bridges industrial memory with daily urban activity. Visitors can engage with exhibits, photography, and outdoor spaces that celebrate water conservancy and community effort.

Key Design Concepts

• Narrative-driven spatial sequence that guides visitors from Han Dynasty origins to present-day irrigation
• Material palette inspired by water and earth—concrete, stone, and timber with clear form
• Commemorative landscape that blends museum program with public realm
• Use of archival photography and documentary materials to anchor memory
• Adaptive reuse of an industrial-site context to reinforce heritage and civic identity

ArchDaily Coverage and Implications for Practice

ArchDaily’s project entry on April 27, 2026 highlights an emerging interest in architecture that treats infrastructural history as cultural heritage. For engineers and designers, the Renmin Canal memorial shows how to embed memorial meaning within redevelopment.

This approach balances preservation, storytelling, and public life. Important lessons include the value of phased programming and protecting canal-related elements.

The integration of archival spaces within a contemporary cultural framework is also emphasized. The Renmin Canal Water Conservancy Culture Zhongjiang Memorial Hall demonstrates how a cultural institution can serve as a commemorative landscape within a changing city.

Its architectural narrative translates water engineering history into public memory and civic identity. This offers a model for future projects that treat important infrastructure as living cultural heritage.

 
Here is the source article for this story: Renmin Canal Water Conservancy Culture Zhongjiang Memorial Hall / AOMOMO Studio, Shanghai Jiao Tong University