What are there good looking, fun, and easy to explore inside?, The century old building at the starting point of the "World Architecture Expo Group", located on the Bund of Shanghai

Not long ago, Dongyi Art Museum issued an extension notice, extending the highly anticipated "Botticelli and Renaissance" exhibition to October 15, 2023, providing more viewing opportunities for citizens and tourists.

The Dongyi Art Museum is located in the Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center building at No.1 Zhongshan East Road on the Bund. This building, also known as the Asia Building, is often referred to as "Bund One" because it is located at the southernmost starting point of the Bund complex. Built in 1916, the Asia Building was the tallest and largest building on the Bund at that time, presenting a classical style overall. At the same time, Baroque elements were perfectly integrated into the details, making the building grand and romantic.

In October 2019, the renovated Asia Building underwent a magnificent transformation and was transformed into the Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center, exploring a new path of combining the protection and utilization of historical buildings on the Bund with cultural construction. At present, the building houses well-known art institutions such as Dongyi Art Museum, Christie's Auction House, and Yiluozhai Culture and Art, and has also attracted the entry of Fubon Huayi's Art Bank. In the future, it will create an integrated art operation, exhibition, financial products, and sales space for upstream and downstream, creating a diversified art atmosphere and a composite art ecology.

Recently, the 2023 Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center Bund Art Salon Season kicked off at the Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center. The event aims to hold a series of activities such as art exhibitions, art lectures, and art experiences through the classic buildings on the Bund, providing citizens and tourists with a rich and colorful cultural experience platform, allowing more people to enter the Bund, and creating a Bund cultural and artistic building that is "readable in architecture and warm in the city".

The building itself is an art exhibition

Entering the Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center, the ticketing space of the Dongyi Art Museum located on the ground floor of the building is bustling with citizens and tourists, most of whom are attracted by the delayed opening of the "Botticelli and Renaissance" exhibition. But after watching the exhibition, most viewers still choose to visit and take photos inside the building, largely because the building itself is like another art exhibition.

Tourists visiting the exhibition "Botticelli and Renaissance"

In terms of appearance, the building has a eclectic style. The facade is designed in three horizontal and vertical sections. The bottom and upper sections are both Baroque in style, while the middle section is in modernist architectural style. There is a semi-circular top at the main entrance, and the lintel is decorated with a deformed Baroque vortex pattern. Various techniques such as curves, breaks, and density are used to highlight the ups and downs and sportiness of the facade and space, creating a magnificent and magnificent visual effect. The interior of the building is presented in a "back" shape, like a well wall, and the aisles are covered with white ceramic tiles. Entering the courtyard on the first floor, one can see the broken ice glass window decorations on the top floor when looking up, which provides ample and bright lighting inside the building.

The glass flower window seen from the courtyard of Jiushi International Art Center

It is often said that "the story of the Bund is the story of Shanghai", but many times, when we stroll around the Bund International Architecture Expo as tourists, we can only be amazed by its magnificent architectural style. However, there are few opportunities to truly enter these century old historical buildings, have in-depth contact with them, understand the stories behind them, and have the regret of "being able to see from afar but not to play with them".

This is the barrier that Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center is committed to breaking: how to achieve "zero distance" interaction between tourists and century old buildings, so that they can not only enter the building, but also personally experience the culture flowing in the space, and create interactive links with it, is the fundamental way to give old buildings new life and stimulate their vitality.

It is reported that Jiushi Group has conducted repeated research on the positioning of the building, and based on the unique attributes of the building's classic historical protection architecture, related art exhibitions mainly focus on "timeless classics" from both domestic and foreign sources. Since October 2019, Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center has held more than 30 high-level "classic" exhibitions, including the Qi Baishi Painting Exhibition, Monet Sunrise Impression Exhibition, the former Dean of the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts Exhibition, and the Botticelli and Renaissance Exhibition. In addition, 45 excellent exhibitions, such as the Jorge Morandi Exhibition, Mark Chagall Exhibition, and the Pujiang Cross Strait Landscape Exhibition, held at Jiushi Art Museum during the same period, have left a deep impression on citizens and tourists, creating a strong artistic atmosphere in the classic architecture of the Bund, attracting about 800000 visitors. With the added effect of art, tourists can appreciate the charm of century old buildings in a higher quality medium.

Bringing a variety of artistic experiences to citizens and tourists

Taking the elevator upwards, visitors can sequentially visit and appreciate multiple art spaces within the Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center - the second floor is the "Foresight - Xu Jiang Works Exhibition" currently on display at the Dongyi Art Museum; The third floor is the exhibition "Botticelli and the Renaissance"; The fourth floor is the office and exhibition space of Christie's, an internationally renowned auction company. Small auctions, private trade shows, auction previews, and cultural salons will be held irregularly; The sixth floor is Yiluozhai - a comprehensive living experience space rich in cultural and artistic atmosphere, adhering to the sharing of traditional Chinese culture and dedicated to the dissemination of cultural experiences such as tea ceremony and fragrance ceremony. In this cultural and artistic activity, citizens also have the opportunity to experience the charm of traditional Chinese culture through the seal carving of Xiling Seal Engraving Society, the Dao of Yiluozhai, and the Guqin.

It is worth mentioning that Yiluozhai has freed up nearly one-third of the exhibition space, introduced many contemporary artists' paintings, and has been open to the public for free viewing and appreciation for a long time. The person in charge of Yiluozhai expressed the hope of creating an art experience without barriers for the audience through open spaces, which can effectively spread culture.

The reporter noticed that the fifth floor of Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center has not yet introduced any business formats, but has been left blank to create a composite space that can accommodate various exhibitions, salons and other art activities. This makes the artistic presentation within the space more malleable, thereby extending more possibilities and imagination. For example, this place can host Christie's auction preview, transform into a fashion show for the release of new products, or become a space for individual artists to showcase their works... Different forms of art display have transformed into a variety of artistic styles, bringing tourists a more diverse artistic experience.

Yiluozhai

With the opening of the "Bund No.1" Shanghai Jiushi International Art Center, the Jiushi Art Museum community, mainly consisting of "Shanghai Jiushi Art Museum", "Bund No.18 Jiushi Art Space", "Shanghai Jiushi Art Salon", and "Three Museums and One Center", has begun to take shape, injecting vitality and vitality into the century old urban history.