SHANGHAI SHAPES
A homage to the city’s Architecture
December 2018
This photoseries is part of the Beautified China series which collects and archives the
architecture boom of the last decade.
Whereas series I (2017) was a mere introduction to the phenomenon and looked at what happened to the proposals and buildings leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.
Series II (2018) captured a deeper understanding of the scale this architecture boom had. By focusing on China’s “other cities” Beautified China II collected unique architecture from cities somewhat unknown in the west.
Overview of photographed building locations:
Oriental Pearl Tower
Architect: Shanghai Modern Architectural Design Company
Function: Radio & TV Tower + Observation Deck
Unknown
Architect: Unknown (please help me in the comments, thanks!)
Function: Office Building
Caohejing Block 3
Architect: Itsuko Hasegawa
Function: Office Building
Shanghai Tower
Architect: Gensler
Function: Office / Hotel Tower + Observation Deck
Bund SOHO
Architect: GMP Architekten
Function: Office Building
Positioning Shanghai In The World.
Shanghai, the financial powerhouse of China and the megalopolis of the east, boasts 24 million inhabitants. Shanghai has one of the world’s most well known skylines. Shiny skyscrapers, rising turning and twisting, gave a face to the world. Long gone are the days that Shanghai, and China in general, were seen as mysterious. China means business, but will soon be synonymous with holiday and a top notch tourism sector.
A recent study of Euromonitor International has put China as world’s number 1 tourist destination by 2030. Goodbye France, Goodbye Spain and the USA. Here’s China.
Shanghai, has and will continue to be one of the major gateways to the massive ‘Middle Kingdom’. World-class architecture is one of the catalysators to draw those millions of visitors year after year.
Shanghai Shapes looks at 25 buildings that populate the city. 25 unique works of architecture by local and foreign designers, some well-known while others are unknown. Each with their own characteristics and style that make Shanghai the world-class city it is today.
Shanghai Shapes is a photoseries that pays homage to the city.
Unknown
Architect: unknown
Function: Office Building
Architect: Atelier Deshaus
Function: Museum
Riviera TwinStar Square
Architect: Arquitectonica
Function: Office Building
Lane 189
Architect: UNStudio
Function: Commercial Building
Foxconn HQ
Architect: Kris Yao Artech
Function: Office Building
Shanghai Shaped Architecture
Shanghai is a commercial city. A large amount of financial institutions chose to set up their (regional) headquarters in the city. The architecture reflects that: glass skyscrapers shape the skyline. Distinctive malls with their more human scale populate the streetscapes.
In an urge to lift up the living quality, sportfacilities, cultural centra and a variety of musea rise up giving the city that much needed deeper meaning.
Merging western style with the eastern influences results in a style of building unique to Shanghai. Wild shapes are less present. In Shanghai everything is more refined, or perhaps more money driven?
Unknown
Architect: Unknown
Function: Office Building
Fosun Foundation
Architect: Heatherwick Studio
Function: Exhibition Space / Gallery
Architect: Zaha Hadid Architects
Function: Office Building
Architect: KPF
Function: Office / Hotel Tower + Observation Deck
Architect: Unknown
Function: Commercial building
Shanghai Shaped Me
For the past 5 years, Shanghai has been my home away from home. The city has shaped my thinking about architecture and spurred my growth as an architectural photographer.
Being surrounded by iconic architecture on a daily basis has giving me an understanding about their reason of existence. The city has given me an understanding of scale, proportion and composition to design and capture architecture in a dense urban context.
The city of Shanghai is my motivation and inspiration to fully understand urban living. Shanghai is a city that is future looking. This photoseries captures the current condition before it eventually transforms into a more futuristic interpretation of itself.
Shanghai Shapes is a homage to the city that shaped me.
3 Cubes
Architect: GMP Architekten
Function: Office Building
Architect: Perkins + Will
Function: Hotel Tower
Architect: Unknown
Function: Cultural Building
Crystal Plaza
Architect: KPF
Function: Office building
Hongkou SOHO
Architect: Kengo Kuma
Function: Office building
The Beautified China catalogue
This photoseries is part of the Beautified China series which collects and archives the architecture boom of the last decade.
Whereas series I (2017) was a mere introduction to the phenomenon and looked at what happened to the proposals and buildings leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.
Series II (2018) captured a deeper understanding of the scale this architecture boom had. By focusing on China’s “other cities” Beautified China II collected unique architecture from cities somewhat unknown in the west.
Shanghai Shapes (2018) is a side step to the general overarching theme and delves deeper into the architecture that shaped China’s largest city. 25 images portray the variety in shapes, forms, colors and patterns used to distinguish buildings.
The series will continue with a final part III (2019) as a conclusion to the entire project. A last look in the vast depths of this massive country.
Beautified China is a collection and status update of China’s architecture.
China was the past, China is the future. Architecture has played an important role in uplifting living qualities of hundreds of millions of Chinese, while also creating a face to the world.
Architect: EMBT
Function: Temporary Pavilion
Architect: KPF
Function: Office building
Architect: Jingtang
Function: Temporary Pavilion turned permanent museum
Architect: GMP Architekten
Function: Sports Stadium
Architect: KPF
Function: Office building
Thanks for viewing!
See more photography on my WEBSITE
Source: https://www.behance.net/gallery/73530875/Shanghai-Shapes by https://www.behance.net/krisprovoost is licensed under cc by-nc-nd (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en_US)
