6 responses to “Modern Architectural Wonders of Shanghai”

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  Canadian_In_China May 14th, 2010 at 23:13

  The China pavilion “Oriental Crown” at the Shanghai World Expo is a complex structure showcasing traditional Chinese culture in all its diversity. Chinese history and traditions are reflected through the different elements of the pavilion, including architecture, calligraphy, gardening and urban planning.

  The main structure of the pavilion has a roof made of 56 traditional corbel, or dougong, brackets. Even the number of brackets used in the roof carries a special meaning, symbolizing the number of China’s ethnic minority groups. The dougong structure has a long history, dating back more than 2,000 years. This traditional Chinese construction technique highlights the unsurpassed craftsmanship of ancient carpenters who cut the wooden pieces so that no glue or other fasteners were needed to hold them together.

  An interesting thing about the color of the pavilion is that it is painted in seven different shades of red. The name of the main color is Gugong Red, or Forbidden City Red. As sunlight hits the different levels of the pavilion, it will look like it had been painted in only one color, even though the red in the upper parts of the pavilion is darker than in the lower parts. It is said that the color will not fade for at least 30 years.

  After the Shanghai Expo, the China Pavilion will be transformed into a permanent museum of Chinese history and culture.

  

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  Luca Hascher June 6th, 2010 at 10:36

  Moderne Architektur in Shanghai – Mega-Bauwerke Der Shanghai

  Jin-Mao-Turm (Jinmào Dàshà)
  Der chinesische Name lässt sich als “prachtvolles Gebäude” übersetzen. Das Gebäude ist mit einer Höhe von 421 m eines der höchsten Gebäude Chinas. Der Jin-Mao-Turm liegt in Pudong und erstreckt sich über 88 Stockwerke.. Errichtet wurde der Riese zwischen 1994 und 1998. Ein Aussichtsdeck liegt im 88. Stock. Niemand sollte es sich entgehen lassen, von oben den fast surreal anmutenden Blick auf Shanghai zu riskieren.

  Nan Pu-Brücke
  In Shanghai gibt es vier Brücken über den Huang Pu-Fluss, also zwischenPudong nach Puxi. Eine dieser Brücken – nämlich die Nan Pu-Brücke- ist besonders erwähnenswert. Diese Hängebrücke besitzt nämlich auf der Seite von Puxi eine Auf- bzw. Abfahrt, die sich spiralförmig über zwei Windungen (720°) erstreckt.

  Oriental Pearl Tower (Dongfang Míngzhuta)
  Im Stadtteil Pudong liegt mit einer Höhe von 468 m einer der höchsten Fernsehturm Asiens, der mehr als 2 Millionen Besucher jedes Jahr anzieht. Lediglich der CN Tower (553 Meter hoch) und der Ostankino-Turm (540 Meter hoch) laufen dem Oriental Pearl Tower in Sache Höhe den Rang ab. Dieses Wahrzeichen der Stadt setzt sich in seiner interessanten Architektur aus 11 unterschiedlich großen Kugeln zusammen, die wiederum von Säulen gestützt werden. Für seine architektonische Umsetzung zeigte sich Jia Huan Cheng verantwortlich. In seiner Übersetzung bedeutet der chinesische Namen “Perle des Ostens.” Im Jahr 1995 wurde der Turm eingeweiht.

  Shanghai World Financial Center
  Das SWFC besitzt eine Höhe von 492 m. Im Jahr 1997 begann man mit dem Bau im mondänen Shanghaier Stadtteil Pudong. Der Wolkenkratzer beheimatet ein Hotel und eine Skybridge, die die beste Aussicht auf Shanghai bietet.

  

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  Kristofer P. June 25th, 2010 at 21:11

  Architectural wonders of the 2010 Shanghai World Expo

  Shanghai Expo, which opened on May 1, is the biggest Expo ever, spanning both sides of the Huangpu River, covering over five square kilometres. One of the key ways of showcasing a nation’s achievements at an Expo is through architectural display. Ever since Joseph Paxton created the Crystal Palace for the first World’s Fair in London in 1851, architecture has played a central role in presenting a nation to the world. Previous world’s fairs have left their architectural marks on their host cities. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, the Space Needle in Seattle and the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco all began as attractions at such events before becoming landmarks. In more recent times Expos have produced iconic structures such as Mies van der Rohe’s Pavilion of the German Reich in Barcelona (1929), Philip Johnson’s New York State Pavilion (1964) and Calatrava’s Alamillo bridge at Seville (1992).

  Here are some of the best architectural wonders of the 2010 world expo in Shanghai, China.

  UK Pavilion
  By far the most buzzed-about pavilion among both architects and the public is Britain’s “Seed Cathedral,” designed by Thomas Heatherwick. The structure is a six-story cube pierced by about 60,000 thin, transparent rods that extend from it like porcupine quills and sway in the breeze. During the day, the rods — each 7.5 meters, or 25 feet, long — act like fiber-optic filaments, drawing natural light into the building. At night, they project light from inside the structure outward, making it glow like a spiky marshmallow. Locals have dubbed it “the dandelion.” Each rod, moreover, contains seeds of different plants collected in the Millennium Seed Bank Project, an international conservation effort of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Before beating out architects including Zaha Hadid, John McAslan and Marks Barfield in the pavilion design competition, Mr. Heatherwick was perhaps best known for art installations. The British government is touting his project as “a striking, visual demonstration of the U.K. as a creative and innovative nation.”

  The China Pavilion is an astonishing inverted pyramid, a massive red structure which stands somewhere between the complex timber roof structures of a Chinese palace and a frightening vision of Russian constructivism.
  China Pavilion

  Austria’s entry, designed by the Vienna-based architecture firms SPAN and Zeytinoglu, is a curved structure clad in 10 million porcelain tiles that allude to the long tradition of chinaware exported from China to Europe.

  At the Danish pavilion, architects BIG have imported the single most familiar Danish landmark, the Little Mermaid statue, to sit at the centre of their pavilion. In its place on the Copenhagen waterfront, China’s brilliant conceptual artist Ai Weiwei has created a video installation, whilst visitors to the pavilion in Shanghai can participate in activities such as a bike ride or a swim in the “harbor pool”.
  Danish pavilion

  The design of South Korea Pavilion by the seven-year-old firm Mass Studies assembles the letters from the Korean alphabet into a cubelike structure, thus using signs to create the space. The exterior appears pixelated, with black-and-white alphabet squares alternating with colored ones created by a Korean artist, Ik-Joong Kang, that will be sold off piece by piece when the Expo is over to raise money for charity. Inside, the exhibition is oriented around an abstract map of a Korean city that expresses the convergence of mountains, water and a dense metropolitan area.
  South Korea Pavilion

  A smaller site, across the Huangpu River from the national pavilions, is home to a number of corporate pavilions. The standout here is the “Dream Cube,” or Shanghai Corporate Pavilion, by Edwin Schlossberg’s New York firm ESI Design. It encourages visitors to participate in an impressive multimedia experience made up of cutting-edge technology, dreamlike environments, collaborative social spaces and sustainably designed materials — all of which are refreshingly free of branding messages or logos, and which tell a story of transformation and change. The finale is a 20-minute cinematic journey inspired by the fourth-century Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi’s dream that he was a butterfly — a perfect metaphor for transformation. The Dream Cube and the Seed Cathedral bring some cachet back to Expo.
  Shanghai Corporate Pavilion – Dream Cube

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  gizmo101 August 10th, 2010 at 01:28

  Thanks for the awesome information, good quality, well written, easy to understand the main point, two thumbs up!

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  Giuseppe Lombardo August 12th, 2010 at 19:35

  Shanghai’s Art Deco Landmark Peace Hotel Reopens
  
  For those heading to Shanghai for the World Expo this summer, a must-see destination can be found at No. 20, on Shanghai’s neoclassical riverfront – The Bund — where the north building of the legendary Peace Hotel reopened after a three-year, $65 million renovation to restore what was once the Far East’s most luxurious hotel to its 1930s glory.

  The Peace Hotel (Now managed by Fairmont) was built in 1929 by Sir Victor Sassoon and originally called the Cathay Hotel, not only making its mark with new heights (China’s first high rise with 10 floors) and prominent copper roof design, but served as a Bund trendsetting first with its granite exterior.

  Setting new luxury standards at that time, the Cathay’s chic art deco design and state-of-the-art amenities surpassed most European properties and rivaled Manhattan’s best. Its air-conditioned rooms (including ballrooms), in-house telephones, private indoor fresh water plumbing and Shanghai’s first electric elevator ruffled some serious feathers in the hotelier community. The Cathay and eventually Peace Hotel had made its mark as Asia’s center of glamor and glitterati accommodating the rich, famous and nameless from around the world.

  The exterior and interior of the building have now been restored to their original designs — including an octagonal ceiling and straight-lined granite façade. Nine of the new hotel’s 270 rooms are decorated to celebrate the cultures of nine nations: India, England, China, America, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Germany. With its beautiful view of the Huangpu River, the Peace hotel is also known for its Jazz Bar, which has been frequented by such luminaries as Jimmy Carter, Queen Elizabeth II, and Ronald Reagan.

  

  Fairmont Peace Hotel
  20 Nanjing Dong Lu, The Bund, Shanghai
  tel +86 21 6321 6888
  http://www.fairmont.com/peacehotel

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  AmTeacherInJapan August 26th, 2010 at 15:41

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