Hunan Road Apartments

The French Concession is a recognized assemblage of architectural landmarks not only in Shanghai, but around the world. During a short period of time after the turn of the century, this area of the city was transformed through a seldom seen combination of speed, a pioneering spirit, architectural creativity, and artistic excellence. Hailed as one of the most avant-garde residential areas of its time, its ground-breaking designs combined Western modern architecture with traditional Chinese influences, resulting in a unique Art Deco style specific only to Shanghai.

As an area which clearly represents a synergy of architectural styles, cultures and time periods, it is set yet again to evolve as Shanghai and China in general experience a development boom similar to the one that once gave birth to the French Concession itself.

Any new building in the Concession, in keeping with the spirit of how it originally developed, must be respectful of the visual context in its expression and proportioning, but also adhering to that spirit of how and why buildings took the forms that they did. Therefore, it should be scaled to fit in well with its immediate surroundings and it should have strong visual referencing to the datum and massing of the historic buildings most adjacent.

To exhibit the most respect however, new designs must embrace that original pioneering design spirit, a spirit which gave rise to the Concession’s characteristic of architectural elements and forms that are innovative from a contemporary architectural context and rich with poetic academics.

The design of Hunan Road 571 aims to become a better example of the area that celebrates the surrounding historic and historic-inspired buildings by acting as a good example of how new buildings can respect their historical context. The building does not aim to be but a non-historically accurate copy of what used to be, but instead a refreshing exhibition of the French Concession at this time in Shanghai’s history as well as a keystone for what is yet to come in its architectural future.