Modern Diversity and Pluralistic Values:
Characteristics and Conservation of 20th-Century Architectural Heritage in
Tianjin
Lu Dai, Yi Li
Abstract：Among the selected 1,000 “20th-Century Architectural Heritage Sites of China,” Tianjin has 64 entries, ranking among the top Chinese cities in terms of both quantity and diversity. As one of the earliest treaty ports in modern China and an important industrial and port city in the 20th century, Tianjin witnessed multiple origins of modernity over more than a century of modernization, including colonial systems, national industries, socialist construction, and reform and opening-up. Its architectural heritage thus exhibits a distinct multi-origin generative characteristic. This paper takes the selected sites as its research subjects and, within the context of urban development, examines their functional typologies, construction techniques, and formal expressions. It points out that Tianjin’s 20th-Century Architectural Heritage forms an overall pattern characterized by complete typologies, composite technologies, and diverse modern expressions. Furthermore, this paper interprets Tianjin’s unique significance as a testimony to China’s modernization process from three dimensions of value: historical and cultural, technical and constructive, and socio-local. It concludes by proposing an adaptive conservation approach centered on procedural value identification, constructive authenticity conservation, and continuous engagement. This provides both an urban case study and methodological reference for understanding the relationship between multi-origin modernity and pluralistic values in 20th-Century Architectural Heritage.
