T
he Shanghai-born English novelist JG Ballard, famous for
fictionalising dystopian modernity, once described his birthplace
as “a waking dream where everything I could imagine had already
been taken to its extreme”. That depiction of a hyperbolic fantasy
holds firm today, as sci-fi futuristic developments peer down on
the vestiges of a past that still pulses with decadence, romance, political
ideology and pure randomness. What other city in the world will you find
Beaux-Arts beauty bumping up against stone Shikumen architecture? In this
‘wicked old Paris of the Orient’, all theatre plays out on the street, where the locals
unashamedly walk around in their pyjamas, foxtrot in Fuxing Park and conduct
a marriage market on Saturdays in the People’s Square. Shanghai may be called
a second city, but this megalopolis blows Beijing away for elegance, idiosyncratic
edge and the incubation of creativity in every corner.EXPERIENCE
While the focus on modern
art was myopically western
during the 20th century,
contemporary culture in the
21st millennium is tilting
towards the East. Pearl Lam
is the powerhouse gallerist
who gets major credit for
pushing Chinese art into the
frame. Visit her fabulous
outpost on Middle Jiangxi
Road to preview the new
players and see the creative
results of her artist-in-
residence programs — all
part of an agenda to pitch
international art and design
talent at Chinese tradition.
pearllam.com/city/shanghaiSitting smack-bang in the
middle of Shanghai, the
Museum of Contemporary
Art Shanghai (MoCA) is a
glass-walled wonderland —
designed by Atelier Liu
Yuyang Architects — that
rises with ice-block cool
above the gardens
of the People’s Square.
See contemporary Chinese
art exhibiting in provocative
adjacency to international
offerings, underneath MoCA
on the Park, the gallery’s
restaurant with rooftop bar
and an outdoor terrace that
sporadically hosts SilentDisco, the headphone-
wearing event backdropped
by the city’s night lights.
mocashanghai.orgCarved from the space of
a former police headquarters
by local architecture studio,
Neri&Hu, Design Republic
Commune is a gallery,
shop and event venue in
Shanghai’s Jing’an district
that seeks to uncover
meaning through discourse
and the exchange of objects
and ideas. Look out
for the Festival of Design,
an in-house talk-fest that
lures the world’s best, while
also hosting exhibitions
and workshops.
thedesignrepublic.comWith China’s share of the
international art market
multiplying at a pace, the
annual West Bund Art
and Design fair has, in less
than five years, evolved
from a boutique event for
cashed-up local collectors
into a calendar highlight for
the contemporary art world.
Visit 8–10 November to view
blue-chip offerings from
big-note gallerists (Gagosian
and Hauser & Wirth
participated last year) and
hear the art-smarts talk in
a refurbished expo centrethat has stimulated further
development — David
Chipperfield’s newly minted
West Bund Art Museum
serves as the Chinese
outpost for France’s
Centre Pompidou.
westbundshanghai.comSTAY
Rich Shanghainese marries
muted Milanese in the new
Middle House Hotel,
an upscale hotel revealing
Piero Lissoni’s restrained
design hand across 111 rooms
and 102 serviced apartments.
Located in Shanghai’s
historic Dazhongli
neighbourhood, it is an oasis
of calm (served by an
in-house spa) amidst the
dense urban craziness.
themiddlehousehotel.com/enHospitality heavyweight
Ian Schrager has brought
his brand to the Bund,
commissioning Neri&Hu
to convert the old Shanghai
Power Company head office
into a luxury hotel with 145
guest rooms. The Shanghai
Edition nods to its Art Deco
origins with a futuristic
deference that is very
Shanghai. editionhotels.com/
shanghai/ ››artworks in the Capsule
Shanghai stand at West Bund Art and
Design: Flasher (2017) and Bust (2018)
by Douglas Rieger; The Birth of the Word,
to the Demise of the Bird (2014–2018) by
Wang Haiyang (including monitor on right
wall); Adaptive Tool (2018), Fist (2018),
Cement Head (2016) and Part Indefinitely
(2018), all by Douglas Rieger.
Shanghai
DESTINATION
An appetite for creativity and innovation
has breathed new life into China’s second city.Mar/Apr 2019 153VList