Everyone catches their breath the first time they glimpse Shanghai’s skyline. The city has undergone the biggest urban building boom the world has known, and the sheer scale and speed of construction are astounding. This urban boom echoes another one a century earlier, and the juxtaposition of avant-garde glass-and-steel towers and historic brick buildings provides a wonderfully arresting sight.
The iconic Pudong skyline
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Concession era
For 40 years after the Communists’ victory in 1949, construction virtually halted in Shanghai. Thus, when restrictions on development were lifted in the early 1990s, the city was a time capsule of pre-1949 architecture. While it’s sad to see so many historic buildings razed to make way for highways and skyscrapers, it’s important to remember that the city has always been about being modern. In the 1920s and 30s, modernity meant Art Deco. Known for its ability to weave outside ideas into local culture, Shanghai adapted the born-in-the-West style to China, and it became a symbol of the city.
A detail of the Art Deco 1933 building
Dreamstime
The most typical Shanghainese architectural form is the lilong or longtang (lane) neighbourhood. First built during the Taiping Rebellion (1853–64), when affluent Chinese from nearby provinces fled to Shanghai and the safety of the Concessions, longtangs are a uniquely Shanghainese hybrid: based on the southern Chinese courtyard house, the buildings have multiple storeys and Western-style exterior decoration.
Traditional architectural flourishes in a shopping centre
Dreamstime
Lane neighbourhoods typically cover a city block, with a few entrances from the street that can be locked by iron gates. Within the neighbourhood lanes are arrayed in a matrix pattern, the stone-framed doors (shikumen) facing south. Because the houses are cramped, the lanes are treated as living space, where laundry is done, hair is washed and vegetables are peeled.
The concessions
No visit is complete without a stroll along the Bund, with its striking panorama of European buildings: about half of the 24 structures were built in the 1920s, and nine during the previous two decades (for more information, click here). Most incorporate the neoclassical themes prevalent during the period, including the regal 1923 Pudong Development Bank (built as the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank) and the Waldorf Astoria (built as the Shanghai Club). The most famous is the Art Deco Fairmont Peace Hotel (formerly the Cathay Hotel); the oldest is the former British Consulate (1874).
Old Shanghai did business in the International Settlement, but preferred to live in the tree-lined French Concession, where the Mediterranean, Tudor and Art Deco homes still stand. Many are private residences, but some are open to the public, such as the magnificent Shanghai Arts and Crafts Museum (for more information, click here) and the former home of the wealthy industralist Rong family, now the Xuhui Children’s Palace (for more information, click here).
Modern Shanghai
Shanghai’s most successful modern buildings include references to Chinese architecture or push the high-design envelope. The Shanghai Grand Theatre (People’s Square Route) does both – it resembles a hyper-modern transparent temple to the arts, until you realise that its roof pays homage to classical Chinese upturned eaves. The Shanghai Centre’s red columns supporting the entrance portico, meanwhile, are a clear reference to traditional motifs, while the 632m Shanghai Tower, the world’s second tallest skyscraper, is meant to resemble the twisting tail of a mythical Chinese dragon.
Postmodern European architects have also proved popular: the seagull-inspired Pudong International Airport and the ceramic-and-glass Oriental Arts Centre were both designed by French architect Paul Andreu. An earlier and less exalted example is the space-age Pearl Oriental Tower, constructed in 1994 and said to have been built to divert attention from the Bund on the opposite riverbank – a symbol of the city’s ‘humiliating’ colonial past. If so, the tower has proved to be a resounding success.
Future Shanghai
The pace of change has been tremendous over the past 15 years, and shows no signs of abating. The largest redevelopment is the 74 sq km (29 sq miles) along the banks of the Huangpu River on the Puxi side, much of which will be green space. The Shiliupu Wharf has been transformed from dingy warehouses to a vibrant waterfront hub of shopping, dining and entertainment. In Hongkou, an international cruise ship terminal has opened, with luxury hotels, shopping and entertainment under way. On the Pudong side, Harbour City is gradually filling up with luxury hotels, residences and a yacht marina. Finally, a carbon-neutral satellite city is being planned for rural Chongming Island to accommodate the floods of migrants.