Study on the Repairing Techniques of Near- Modern Historical Residences in Nanjing, China: The case study of the West Cabbage Garden Conservation project

Nanjing is a famous city in eastern China. The near-modern history of China was the history of the relocation of the Kuomintang regime to Taiwan and the founding of the People's Republic of China from the 1840 First Anglo-Chinese War to the 1949. There are many important near-modern architectural heritages left here. These historical residences have been used for nearly 90 years, and their structural safety performance has long been unable to meet modern standards. A large number of historical residences are in jeopardy and face a situation of extinction. In the past, some historical residences were demolished, and then people redone a new building with a highly similarly appearance. However, the historical information of the building was destroyed. In recent years, Nanjing's architects have been continually exploring better ways of architectural conservation, allowing these historical residences to meet current safety standards and performance while preserving the authenticity of the building's appearance. The repair method of this kind of building has not yet reached a conclusion. After participating in a series of conservation projects, we put forward our own theory for the conservation methods of Nanjing historic residences.This article first gives a brief introduction to Nanjing's near-modern history and summarizes the characteristics and problems of residences during this period. Then, this article takes an architectural renovation and conservation project undertaken by the authors as an example to introduce the strategies and modern methods adopted in the conservation of the historical residences.