The block space will be open to the public, and a check-in area will be added by the Bund in Shanghai: 11 historical buildings will be renovated and make a magnificent appearance

At the northern end of the Bund and on the west side of Yuanmingyuan Road, there is a historic and cultural district with 11 century old buildings, integrating European architectural styles and Asian elements, making it magnificent. This block is called "Rock Bund Source ROCKBUND". After 18 years, with the support of Huangpu District, 11 historical buildings and other buildings in the block have been repaired and constructed one after another. The public space and streets inside the block are about to be opened for sharing, and some art, culture, and creative industries have settled in and taken root in this block. As one of the key events of the 2023 Bund International Art Festival, the RAM Components Bund Architecture Festival will be held from September 22 to October 6 in the "Rock Bund Source" area. Citizens and tourists can enter this historic block and experience its charm.

Street View of Yuanmingyuan Road

11 excellent historical buildings with beauty and stories

Turn from Beijing East Road to Yuanmingyuan Road Pedestrian Street, with Peninsula Hotel and No. 33 Bund Source on one side, and a continuous historical architectural complex on the other side. This building complex and the block behind it is "Rock the Bund Source", which is surrounded by Beijing East Road, Yuanmingyuan Road, South Suzhou Road and Huqiu Road, and is one step away from the Bund, Suzhou Creek and Nanjing Road Walkway.

The most magnificent buildings in the "Locke Bund Source" are 11 excellent historical buildings. Any one of these buildings has a high appreciation for architectural art, and behind it lies a historical story.

For example, walking on the gravel paved Yuanmingyuan Road, near one end of Beijing East Road, there is a four story building called "Ampere Trading Company". The beautiful British classical design style makes the building look like an elegant castle. The stone brick arches, semi-circular windows, and intricately carved railings all highlight the delicacy of this building. Ampere Trading Company was designed and built by Alder Trading Company, and was completed in 1905. After completion, it settled in well-known companies in the fields of shipping, trade, real estate, and design at that time.

External of Amperex

Internally at Amperex

Moving forward, a coffee shop has set up its exterior on Yuanmingyuan Road, and the aroma of coffee wafts out from the open window of the coffee shop on the first floor. This building is the Women's Youth Association Building. The characteristic of this building is the incorporation of a large number of Chinese elements into the modernist style. For example, on the textured exterior walls along the street, there are khaki colored Hui character patterns scattered throughout, resembling the exquisite patterns on ancient Chinese paper windows; At the entrance gate, the door leaf adopts the Chinese style "three intersecting six valonia diamond grid" decoration; Entering the first floor, the lobby is even more eye-catching, with red, yellow, and green squares of varying sizes forming at the feet. Above the head, there are exquisite colored paintings painted on the ceiling of the wellhead, with the word "longevity" vaguely visible.

Youth Women's Association Building

First floor lobby

Each historical building within the "Locke Bund Source" has a plaque with a QR code. Scan it to listen to the story of this building. For example, the Asian Cultural Society Building was once one of the earliest museums in China - the location of the Shanghai Museum. At that time, this museum mainly collected and displayed natural specimens, cultural relics, and ancient books related to China. Huqiu Road was named "Museum Road" due to the huge influence of the museum at that time;

Asian Culture and Culture Building

The True Light Building and the Guangxue Building are two dark brown twin buildings with back-to-back design, both created by internationally renowned architect Hudak, who previously worked at the True Light Building.

True Light Building

There are also well-known and excellent historical buildings here, such as Guanglu Building, Zhongshi Building, Yuanmingyuan Apartment, Hami Building, Xiejin Building, Lanxin Building, etc., which were built a hundred years ago and are witnesses to the history of Shanghai city.

Xiejin Building

"Locke Bund Source" is another block behind the Bund where you can stroll and read about the architecture at the same time.

Carefully polished for 18 years, with a consistent restoration philosophy

The total construction area of Locke Bund Source is 94000 square meters. Among the "Second Facade of the Bund" projects vigorously developed in Huangpu District, "Locke · Bund Source" is currently the largest project with the most historical buildings involved. The front and back of the block have been polished for nearly 18 years.

Chen Libin, a partner in the Shanghai office of David Shipfield Architects, who is responsible for the renovation of 11 historic buildings, told reporters that in 2006, David Shipfield Architects took over the renovation of the "Rock Bund Source" historic building. At that time, 11 buildings had undergone nearly a century of damage and illegal renovations to varying degrees. "The exterior is severely weathered, and some facades are still covered with weeds. Due to excessive use, there are many additional and constructed parts on the building."

Based on the situation of each building, the architect carried out rigorous repairs and renovations: the interior and exterior were carefully cleaned and repaired, while preserving the authenticity of their materials as much as possible; Remove any additions and renovations that go against the original design intent, partially restore them, and partially make moderate modifications to accommodate office and retail needs.

The process of repair and renovation is very difficult. Chen Libin told reporters that the initial task was to reinforce the foundation structure of 11 buildings. The reinforcement method is to drive piles inside and outside the walls of each building, and add beams between the piles to "frame" the original strip structure of the building. Driving piles outside the wall is not difficult, but driving piles inside the wall can damage the ground inside the building.

The architect came up with various methods, with details to the extreme. For example, the ground of the first floor of the Women's Youth Association building is very beautiful, composed of blocks of terrazzo squares. In order to preserve it intact, the architect asked the construction unit to accurately cut along the edges of the grid. After the foundation reinforcement is completed and then assembled back, the original terrazzo floral partition strip is cleverly used to restore the grid and present the historical appearance.

The Asian Cultural Center Building on Huqiu Road is the first historical building in the "Locke Bund Source" that has been renovated. This six story building has a facade that belongs to the Western Art Deco style. When repairing this magnificent building, the architect only professionally cleaned most of the facades that did not involve structural safety, preserving the irreplaceable beauty of time. The renovated flexible space realizes a series of different display concepts, with the fourth, fifth, and sixth floors connected by a new atrium. The Asian Cultural Society Building has settled in the Shanghai Bund Art Museum, which once became a landmark of the neighborhood.

Asian Culture and Culture Building

The Asian Society Building of the 1930s

The repair process of each building is unique, but David Shipfield's concept of repairing historical buildings is consistent. Chen Libin said that there is a viewpoint in the industry that the missing parts of historical buildings should be restored to their original state; But Dai Wei believes that the restoration of historical buildings should follow the principles of recognizability and restoration. The missing part is also a part of the memory of the era, and the seamless repair, for future generations, is like erasing the traces of history. This concept has been followed in the restoration of cultural relics. If a cultural relic is partially damaged, no one will repair it without any trace. There is also a viewpoint in the industry that the missing parts of historical buildings can be compensated for with modern techniques, highlighting the contrast between modernity and history. However, Dai Wei believes that the restoration of historical buildings should not only reflect their authenticity, but also preserve the beauty of the building. So, David Shipfield Architects has always showcased these time-tested buildings in a way that preserves dignity and reshapes style.

Opening up the internal space for the first time, gathering artistic formats

At the upcoming RAM Assembles Bund Architecture Festival, citizens and tourists will find that the public space inside the block of "Rock Bund Source" has been opened.

Originally, behind these buildings were mostly warehouse areas in history, but due to historical changes, these spaces once ceased to exist. In the update of "Locke Bund Source", some streets and squares have been restored and created, and some scattered spaces have been purposefully arranged to become urban public spaces that citizens and tourists can share.

Walking inside the block of "Locke Bund Source", you can see three public squares. Aharon Square is located on the former site of the Aharon Synagogue, which was completed in 1927. Aharon Square, also known as Sunset Square, is an excellent place to watch the sunset. The Museum Square, the predecessor of the Shanghai Bund Art Museum located on Huqiu Road, is the location of the "Shanghai Museum" founded by the Asian Cultural Society. Following history, "Locke Bund Source" continued to name this square the Museum Square.

Museum Square

In the late 19th century to the 1920s, there was an east-west alley called Anren Village located between Yuanmingyuan Road and Museum Road, which no longer exists. Taking inspiration from history, "Locke Bund Source" has opened up a small road that is also hidden in the market, starting from Hong Kong Road in the north and ending at Ahalong Square in the south, and reusing the name "Anren Village".

Yuanmingyuan Apartments

"When people from all directions navigate through the buildings and enter squares and streets, generating inspiration and creativity, active squares and streets will become catalysts for public cultural life," said Chen Libin.

At the RAM Assembles Bund Architecture Festival, the Urban Archaeology team will create art installations that combine AI technology, including second-hand book stalls, roadside pancake stalls, flowing flower stalls, and children's innocent paintings, and bring them to this neighborhood to ignite the fireworks. "This public space will be a fertile soil that will cultivate a diverse, balanced, interesting, and popular spatial ecology." Xu Ming, founder of the "Urban Archaeology" cultural project, told reporters that "Urban Archaeology" will build a new urban archaeological library and exhibition hall at "Locke Bund Source", which will be open to citizens and tourists for free.

In fact, "Locke Bund Source" has become a popular destination for high-quality art and cultural industries in the Bund region: the Ota Hidetaka Gallery, established in Tokyo in 1994, moved its Shanghai based gallery to "Locke Bund Source" this year; Cultural formats such as Ideal Nation and Urban Archaeological Library are preparing to open.

Overlooking Locke • Bund Source

"The 'Locke Bund Source' and the surrounding Bund area are gathering art and cultural industries." Liu Yingjiu, the director of the Shanghai Bund Art Museum, is quite touched. The Shanghai Bund Art Museum opened in 2010 at the Asian Cultural Center Building and was the only non-profit art institution in the surrounding area open to citizens and tourists in the first few years. But in recent years, art museums, galleries, and art spaces around the Bund have sprung up like mushrooms after rain. Not only in the "Locke Bund Source" area, but also in the "First Facade" and "Second Facade" of the Bund, a large number of cultural and artistic formats are gathered. "On the one hand, this is due to the government's promotion of the renovation of a batch of old buildings, which has improved the surrounding environment. On the other hand, art institutions themselves have agglomeration characteristics, and gathering together can generate greater influence, which can be seen in many cities. In addition, the Bund has historically been a financial agglomeration area, and finance has a positive role in promoting the development of art and culture."