For Lydia Koniordou, a famous Greek actress and former Greek minister of culture and sports, cultural preservation is essential to help people know who they are and learn what they should do in the future.

“The taller you want to grow, the deeper your roots must be. Our cultural past is our roots. If we don’t have really strong roots and depth in our perception(认识) of our identity, we cannot grow. Without these roots, we will be torn out very easily with the currents,” she told the journalist in a recent interview, adding cultural heritage is in fact very much alive and relevant today.

Speaking of her teaching experience overseas, Koniordou said she was very much impressed by her Chinese students when she gave seminars on ancient Greek tragedy at the Shanghai Theatre Academy in 2014. When the students worked on Alcestis, an Athenian tragedy by ancient Greek playwright Euripides, they thoroughly researched the costumes they would wear, the set, and the lights, among others, she recalled. “I feel they evolved and were transformed by this experience as I was transformed. They did not just play a role, but created a whole world and that is why the production had so much interest also for the spectators, ”she said.

Koniordou participated in the production of Euripides Electra together with Greek director Kostas Tsianos. “Tsianos did something very important for Greek culture. He connected folk forms of art, folk dances, songs and poetry with our classical past. We presented this performance in many places around the world, and the feeling that it stirred in the audience was quite similar, even though they didn’t always understand the language,” she said.

The Chinese civilization is a huge tree with very deep roots, and Greece also has a rich ancient civilization, she said, adding she believes that the two countries could promote cooperation and exchanges in many fields, such as in preservation of antiques.

An 85-year-old building, the Lagena Primary School has been lifted off the ground—in its entirety—and relocated using new technology called the “walking machine”. In the city’s latest effort to preserve historic structures, engineers attached nearly 200 mobile supports under the five-storey building, according to Lan Wuji, chief technical supervisor of the project. The supports act like robotic legs. They’re split into two groups which take turns to rise up and down, imitating(模仿) the human walking. Attached sensors help control how the building moves forward, Lan said, whose company Shanghai

Evolution Shift developed the new technology in 2018. “It’s like giving the building crutches(拐杖) so it can stand up and then walk,” he said. Built in 1935, the school was moved in order to make space for a new commercial and office complex (建筑群), which will be completed by 2023.

The relocation was completed on October 15 last year with the old school building set to become a center for heritage protection and cultural education. The project marked the first time this “walking machine” method has been used in Shanghai to relocate a historical building.

There are a few ways to go about moving a building. But the Lagena Primary School, which weighs 7,600 tons, created a new challenge—it’s T-shaped. The irregular shape meant that traditional methods of pulling or sliding may not have worked. Experts and technicians met to discuss possibilities and test a number of different technologies before deciding on the “walking machine”. Lan said that he couldn’t share the exact cost of the project, and that relocation costs will differ case by case. “But in general, it’s cheaper than demolishing and then rebuilding something in a new location.”