At the intersection of Bei’er Road and Xinghuabei Street, Tiexi District, Shenyang City, there is an old factory building. It looks “outdated” but is full of art—It is the 1905 Re-Creative Space.

The 1905 Re-Creative Space got its name from Shenyang’s Industry born in 1905. It was converted from the second machine shop of Shenyang Heavy Machinery Group Co., Ltd. that produced the first furnace of molten steel in the People’s Republic of China and created more than 40 “firsts of the People’s Republic of China”. In 2009, the group moved collectively, and the second machine shop was deserted. In 2012, the abandoned factory was turned into a cultural and commercial area combining culture, history, art, leisure, etc., which is popular with young people.

The interior of the 1905 Re-Creative Space utilizes the high sloped beam and steel structure as the building’s frame. When you look up, you can see the steel frames that reach the ceiling, which is retro and fashionable. These steel frames have a history of over 80 years and the yellow bridge cranes for processing metal components have become the most unique “watermark”.

Walking into the space, you will find that every creative corner has given new life to steel and cement. Since the completion of this space, cultural areas such as Mumu Theater, 1905 Academy, and Live House have held more than a hundred activities，including the Global Multicultural Week. Every cultural area like the vintage clothing store, cultural and creative handcraft shop, and intangible cultural heritage studio, shows the charm of “cultural creation”.

The annual art exhibition has become the brand IP of the 1905 Re-Creative Space, attracting numerous outstanding cultural and creative resources from home and abroad to Shenyang. At the bazaar selling cultural and creative products in the space, various innovative and unique products compete for attention and draw a large number of tourists to stop and look. Adornments made of flowers and pendants assembled from industrial components are full of surprises. Visitors can experience the intangible cultural heritage of “Liao embroidery”, operate an old-fashioned printing press to make a postcard about Shenyang in the letterpress studio, and design silver jewelry by hand... This space blends an old style and a fashionable style, where young people can gain novel experiences.

The old factory building produces the flowers of literature and art. Its theme of “industrial culture plus creativity” meets people’s various expectations about culture. On the wall outside the space, the word “Tiexi” cast with the last furnace of molten steel before the relocation is full of marks of time. It shows the strength of a city and witnesses how the “old” factory building can create “new” ideas.