“The sea, when viewed alone, makes it even more desolate.” — Yang Lian, Where the Sea Stopped, 01
Wutopia Lab has transformed an abandoned water tower in Dongtanyuan—formerly the 12th company of Frontier Farm, a subsidiary of Bright Food Group—into a Memorial of Everyman. This space honors ordinary people who have performed heroic acts in moments of desperation.
Despair
When despair strikes,
My heart slows to a near stop.
I struggle to breathe.
Sweat drips, vision blurs, limbs stiffen, and my mind goes blank.
I slowly curl into a ball, shrinking away,
As the air clings tightly around me like a thin film.
Sometimes sadness surfaces silently, sometimes it remains unspoken.
The final blow of fate descends—this is it. Come on.
The doctor softly explained her condition.
I felt like a parrot cast onto the shallow waters of time—
Bright in color, yet lifeless and hopeless.
Sealing the leak with one’s own body
Lu Jingjuan plunged into the breach.
The icy winter water pierced her bones.
The cold flood threatened to drown the reclaimed land.
Despair
Everyone jumped into the breach.
People rolled like waves, just like the sea.
The New Year’s tide bowed its head,
Sighing beyond Xiaohongba.
Hope
Memory is a recreation.
It’s now 2021.
The old weaving factory has become a hotel and conference center.
The water tower beside it feels somewhat lonely.
Superior Suite,
Private afternoon tea space,
Whispering softly about the future.
Despair
Yet, the echoes of memories resonate upon the earth:
“Don’t forget Lu Jingjuan and her friends.”
Hope
Mortal Memorial Hall
Lu Jingjuan and her friends hail from Shanghai.
A Shanghai less familiar to many,
A Shanghai of collectivism and individual courage.
Along with the trumpet that makes the tides sigh,
Remember their story.
The water tower should serve as a memorial hall now.
For those in despair,
For ordinary people who fought with all their might.
They all deserve to be remembered.
Heroic mortals.
Tower into Tower
84 slender gold rods form a golden tower.
These represent the golden Lu Jingjuans,
Leading themselves to seal the leak.
The golden tower is inserted inside the water tower.
The Eternal Age of Innocence
A sparkling spiral staircase climbs 100 steps,
From 1921 to 2021.
Ordinary people,
Create a bountiful harvest on barren shores,
So that even more ordinary people
May build prosperity in Shanghai.
Shanghai is where I grew up and came of age, carrying all my emotions.
Look down:
It’s Shanghai.
Lighthouse
Light dances on cement walls.
I carved a triangle.
Every crack is a place where light shines through.
The glass roof of Jinta glows.
That’s Guangming Peak.
The water tower now serves as a lighthouse.
All life is sacred, and living brings joy.
Hope
Now, she is well.
Her breathing sounds like gentle rain.
Despair
She and I fought hard together to overcome.
Hope
There is a kind of heroism in this struggle.
Walking 100 steps is exhausting,
But the light above grows ever stronger.
Reaching the top of the stairs, gasping for breath,
You keep panting,
Then look eastward,
Wow,
A slender line of reclaimed land stretches endlessly on the horizon,
Like countless people standing in the water—
That’s where the ocean stops.
“The sea has never struck a lonely place,
No one has ever been crushed to pieces under a cliff.”
— Yang Lian, Where the Sea Stopped, 04
Comparison before and after the renovation of the water tower
Notes:
Min Erni: Mrs. Yu Ting, founder of Wutopia Lab.
Leading the way to seal the leak: In 1959, tens of thousands of reclamation workers built dams to block water flow on Chongming Island. As the dam neared closure, the water surged faster. At that moment, a young woman named Lu Jingjuan jumped into the opening, followed by over a hundred migrant workers. Finally, the dam was sealed.
Excerpt: “Chongming Reclamation Past,” Liberation Daily, Author: Chai Taoxiong, October 26, 2018.
New Year’s Tide: The ocean and coastal river water flow fluctuates greatly throughout the year due to tides.
Small flood dam: A building designed to intercept floods.
On December 26, 1965, as the gate of Denggan Port was about to close, the “New Year’s wave” surged again. Twenty-eight young people including Shen Masi, Li Banggu, Mao Mingde, Hu Yongxiang, Zhu Caiguo, Wu Yishan, and Huang Chenghui stripped off their cotton clothes and pants, jumped into the rushing waters, and formed three human walls. The dam finally closed.
Excerpt from Section 6 of “Shanghai Frontier Farm Chronicles”: “Fighting the Dragon,” 1985, pages 9-10. Source: Shanghai Frontier Farm.
Project drawings
△ General layout plan
△ First floor plan
△ Second floor plan
△ Facade and section drawings
△ Axonometric diagram
△ Axis sectional view
Project Information
Project Name: Mortal Memorial Hall
Design Company: Wutopia Lab
Lead Architect: Yu Ting
Project Architect: Mu Zhilin
Design Team: Pan Dali, Xu Nan, Mi Kejie, Li Ziheng
Construction Drawing Design Company: Shanghai Zhumeng Architectural Design Co., Ltd.
Owner: Shanghai Qianyi Agricultural Development Co., Ltd.
Construction Unit: Shanghai Hongli Curtain Wall Engineering Co., Ltd.
Structural Consultant: Miao Binhai
Lighting Consultant: Zhang Chenlu
Photography: CreatAR Images
On Camera: Mu Zhilin
Location: Chongming, Shanghai, China
Project Duration: April 2020 – October 2021
Area: 25 square meters
Materials: Steel, Glass
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