Old Factory Square 1933 or 老廠坊或19叁III
Direction:
take Metro Line 4, Hailun Road Station, Exit 2 or 3, go east and keep walking until arriving at a small Shajing River, turn right into the Shajin Road, walk till the end and before Zhoujiazui Road, the Old Factory Square is on the left, butting closely to a tall Hotel.
Address:
10 and 29 Shajing Road, Yangpu District, Shanghai.
Name:
What is now the Old Factory Square, the nickname 1933 intrinsically speaks for itself its date of construction or design.
Design:
Art Nouveau. Reinforced steel concrete structure. Truly a building that follows tenet of modern architecture for its strict adherence to form follows function. Simple geometrical form with art nouveau motifs on its wall facades.
Essentially emphasizing solid and void in volumetrical massing, it is an inner circle superimposed onto an outer square that gives rise to an interior open atrium all around where the circle separates from the square. The square is linked to circle via multiple sky bridges on all floors.
A spacious penthouse is located on the top floor of the inner circular block. Its central opening is enclosed with clear plexi-glass and can be visually seen from below to above and vice versa.
Overall, it is a labyrinth that one without sense of direction would have a tough time in getting around and a GPS is needed to steer course inside and out.
Formerly:
A slaughterhouse for cows.
Currently:
On October 31st, 2005, it was classified by the Shanghai Municipal Government as a Heritage Architecture. Renovated recently and it is becoming a place for chic and contemporary outlets. Currently premises occupying include an American clothing retailer, a cigar store, a winery, a restaurant or two here and there, and an exhibition space, etc.
Company:
Jaxston and Wendy Lee, Mark Yin, Joe and a lady friend, and me.
Jeremy
Shanghai upon the Sea
December 20th, 2008
