Landscape
HENDERSON CIFI TIANDI The street of 1,000 red jars
H
uangpu District is the birthplace of Shanghai’s local culture, industry and the Communist Party of China. Its rich cultures include old houses in alleyways such as the Yuyuan Garden; modern industry such as Jiangnan Shipyard; diversified architecture such as the historic buildings on the Bund; and the classic Shikumen buildings as well as historical sites related with the history of the country’s communist party. Shanghai’s transformation into a metropolis takes roots here. Today’s Huangpu District is sometimes referred to as “New Huangpu”, the result of the merger of three long-standing districts of Shanghai: Nanshi, Huangpu and Luwan. Each of these districts has its own distinct history and character.
38 July-August 2021 | www.b-i.biz
(Source: Ateliers Jean Nouvel. Photo ©10 Studio. 恒基-旭辉新天地/The Roof)
While Shanghai is popular for many places and reasons, the French Concession is somewhere on top of that list. The Former French Concession has long put its stamp on this part of Shanghai, and it was obviously an honour for French architect Ateliers Jean Nouvel to design an urban space here in tune with its urbanism, its plane trees, narrow streets, and inhabited landscapes. Between Ma Dang and Dan Shui streets, it was tempting to create a shortcut that would be an urban and commercial passageway, a sequence evoking vanished surroundings that have been completely reimagined and are new and modern; a high, narrow street that’s covered and protected. The buildings need to know where they reside so as to create a desire for unique and unpredictable walks. Being open, the project fits into the quarter’s geometry. The exterior, in a greyish-
