Revitalizing, Shanghai's "Old Brand" Citywalk Resort Music | History | Shanghai

On July 26, a buyer's shop named "Luke Nao Park" was put into trial operation on Huaihai Road near Shaanxi South Road. It was a new store opened by the local buyer brand LOOKNOW in the Hengfu District after the stores on Wukang Road and Anfu Road, and it was connected with Xiangyang Park across the wall for the first time, creating a new composite retail space in "wutong District".

Just diagonally opposite Xiangyang Park, on the eve of last year's National Day, Shanghai Conservatory of Music opened the campus wall through overall campus upgrading, connecting the historical buildings, 3300 square meter garden, and Huaihai Road block on campus. People can come to this music district to watch performances, rest, watch exhibitions, learn, and go shopping, experiencing various forms of "citywalk".

At the "Hui Lecture Forum" held in Xuhui District recently, professionals from music, fashion retail, and research institutions expressed their opinions on the opening and integration of physical space, street lifestyle, and interpersonal relationships within the Hengfu Music District. This has also brought a more vibrant and open form to the music district, which is composed of the intersection of Huaihai Middle Road, Fenyang Road, Fuxing Middle Road, and Baoqing Road.

Shangyin campus "music castle" Heshaar photo

Open the wall and blend into the neighborhood

Liao Changyong, the dean of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, stated in an interview that opening the wall of Shangyin is to enhance the connection between the campus and the city.

In the view of Feng Lei, Vice Dean of Shanghai Conservatory of Music, music and architecture are actually inseparable. The nearly century old buildings on campus not only witness the inheritance of several generations of teachers and students, but also witness the birth of many important works, such as the "Red Trilogy" of "Yellow River Cantata", "Liang Zhu" and "Red Flag Ode". "The ancient architecture has been endowed with the agility of music by its predecessors, which is an important starting point for us to explore the relationship between music, architecture, neighborhoods, and cities today," said Feng Lei. With the opening of the campus and the integration with the music district, a number of historical buildings on the campus will also be gradually opened to the public.

The "Music Castle" located on the west side of the Shangyin Opera House is most eye-catching due to its unique appearance, among the old buildings that reveal their true appearance after the Shangyin Campus is opened with red tile roofs and colored glass. The Music Castle, built in 1936, is a representative of German Renaissance architecture. It was once the Consulate General of Belgium in Shanghai and the Jewish Club, and later became the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. It houses important works and documents such as the scores of China's first symphonies, "Nostalgia" and "Butterfly Lovers", created by Huang Zi.

"We have planned this building as a music master space and a music concert living room, and the name is' Music Castle 'because history and music fairy tales have both occurred and blended here." Feng Lei introduced. The Music Castle also witnessed the scene of He Luting, the former dean of Shangyin, working in the office, and will restore this form and open it to the public in the future.

The Shangyin Art Education Building, built in 1926, is an English style garden style building with a brick and wood structure, named after the "Yuanpei Art Education Lecture Hall" named by the first principal of Shangyin, Cai Yuanpei. Within this year, citizens and tourists can enter the building to visit and participate in high-quality forum activities through reservations. The International Education Building, which has been built for 111 years, is currently the oldest building in the history of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. This French Renaissance style work will serve as an important carrier of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music International Education Open Park. In the future, various premiere ceremonies, international important competition press conferences, and global press conferences for heavyweight works will be held. Feng Lei stated that these historical buildings have embedded the Shangyin Garden at the corner of Huaihai Middle Road and Fenyang Road into the construction of Hengfu Music Street without any distance, and it is expected to be fully put into use by the end of this year.

Not only classic music works, but also people from all corners who come here to listen to music and take a walk to keep buildings alive. Feng Lei listed a music themed "citywalk" route: starting from the recording location of the Bai Dai Xiaolou "March of the Volunteers", following Hengshan Road to Nie'er Square, passing through the Shanghai Symphony Museum and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, passing through Blackstone Apartments, and then turning onto Fenyang Road, one arrives at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, which also includes the He Luting Concert Hall and the Shangyin Opera House.

"Recently, everyone has been discussing 'citywalk'. In fact, Shangyin has opened up the wall and jointly promoted the construction of music blocks with Xuhui District, hoping to better serve society through music aesthetic education." Feng Lei said.

Transparent display windows, flowing feasts

A group of distinctive and fashionable new retail stores in the Hengfu style area have also provided people traveling in the music district with a more diverse experience. LOOKNOW is one of them. As a global designer brand buying platform, based in Shanghai, LOOKNOW currently collaborates with over 150 domestic and foreign brands, half of which are Chinese designers. Whether in Wukang Road, Anfu Road or Xintiandi, LOOKNOW stores are all along the street. The founder of the brand, Yan Ming, summarized LOOKNOW's "street store" characteristics with windows, doors, small squares, and parks.

Photo by Shu Shu, LOOKNOW, Wu Kang Road

In 2020, LOOKNOW opened its first buyer's shop in the "wutong District" on Wukang Road. Huge glass windows are still rare in Wukang Road, which has also successfully attracted an endless stream of people, giving different brands a window to express their design ideas on this century old road. "Netizens say that we are merchants on Wukang Road who are 'putting a lot of effort into making showcase windows'. In fact, this is a visual brand drive, just like the music street attracts people with hearing."

One year later, LOOKNOW opened a small storefront near Anfu Road and Urumqi Middle Road, and signed a 5-year contract. This time, LOOKNOW did not open its own buyer's shop, but changed a brand to sell here every once in a while. During this time, the Nordic designer brand GANNI, China-Chic brand SMFK, etc. were welcomed, bringing fresh blood to the block continuously, and attracting people to come here again and again. In Yan Ming's view, physical retail on old roads requires innovation and change, and even has some guerrilla characteristics, constantly bringing freshness to everyone in order to survive better.

Anfu Road LOOKNOW&FLOW Concept Store

Last summer, LOOKNOW opened a new store at the corner of Anfu Road and collaborated with neighboring merchants to hold a camping style pop-up. They arranged 50 camping lounge chairs in a row, creating a scene similar to a small square on the street corner, allowing customers and passersby here to enjoy the scenery together.

"Everyone is talking about 'citywalk', but in fact, neighborhoods are becoming a new ecosystem for urban commerce in China. Strictly speaking, from department stores to" box "shaped shopping centers, and in the past five years, neighborhoods have become a new growth point for physical retail. Behind this is actually the logic of" organic urban revitalization ".". "Block commerce is expected to become the new core of commerce, and it is believed that more and more people are willing to spend time 'wandering' on the streets and in the city, which means a more free and comfortable living state."

This time, LOOKNOW opened its new store opposite the Huanmao Square, a landmark commercial complex in Hengfu District. The three storey building used to be the location of Starbucks, Cong you bing and coconut chicken hotpot. Now, two rows of floor to ceiling glass windows have visually opened up the landscape of Huaihai Middle Road and Xiangyang Park. To Yan Ming's surprise, there were also unexpected musical elements here. "Every night from 6pm to 9pm, the music of the square dance is played on time, and we are also thinking about how to better integrate the music and atmosphere in the store with the historic park behind us."

Photo by Shu Shu, LOOKNOWPARK, Huaihai Middle Road

He also mentioned the discovery made by French philosopher Benjamin when studying the urban form of Paris. Since the rise of Paris in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, people have witnessed the shock of the Eiffel Tower, and now in Paris, people prefer to encounter unexpected scenery from "urban roaming". The details at the city corners can capture people's hearts for a longer time. "People are becoming more and more fond of coming to Hengfu Scenic Area, because here people no longer feel the shock of looking up at tall buildings in the city, but rather the relationship of closeness, equality, and co construction."

To this end, this year, Hunan Road Street in Xuhui District invited more than 30 units within its jurisdiction to establish a music block co governance committee, and simultaneously launched the construction of Xuhui District's new era civilization practice characteristic music block, creating an "never ending" music block. It is reported that Hunan Road Sub district is taking the lead in promoting the research on the "Development Guidelines for New Business Forms of the Hengfu Music Block", coordinating the relationship between merchants and residents, and better playing the main role of the market, the guidance and management role of the government, the joint construction, governance and sharing role of grassroots party organizations and all sectors of society, so as to make the integration of commercial and residential areas in the music block and the creation of a healthier community.