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SHORT LAST-MINUTE ART PIECE I WROTE FOR THE SEPTEMBER EDITION. THIS PLACE IS WICKED COOL.

Arts
It’s Not Disneyland, Kids
By Megan Shank
Shanghai

Does your family ever wake up on a Saturday morning and feel at a loss of what to do for the day? You could go shopping, visit the park, or stay at home and watch television. Boring.

Paul Liu has a solution, and no, it’s not Disneyland. It’s a slaughterhouse.

Liu, chairman of Axons Concepts, isn’t talking just any old chophouse—he’s specifically referring to an arty abattoir of which his company, along with the Shanghai Creative Industries Corporation and the Hong Kou District People’s Government, is restoring to create one of Shanghai’s most interesting new creative spaces.

Liu and his team have named their new incarnation 1933—after the year the abattoir was completed. All of the concrete used for the structure is Portsmouth concrete, imported from the U.K., and in its day, the abattoir was one of three of such grand scale worldwide – London and Paris boasting the others. Until 1970, it functioned as a slaughterhouse until it was taken over as a medicine factory, which later went bankrupt in 2000. The building, also know as number 10, had been vacant until Liu and his team began restoring it – and the three surrounding buildings, named No. 29, that encompass an additional 6,500 square meters–a little more than a year ago.

After years of being saddled with structural add-ons, some of the structure had collapsed in on itself. But after archival photos and blueprints were found, the original form was discovered. The square building has an art deco façade on its wings and its middle section features a Moorish dome. Inside, a square area with open-air spaces encompasses a circular one. The square building was where the animals were kept in five floors of holding spaces.

When restoration is complete, the former holding pens will be art galleries and office spaces for creative-driven companies. The spacious circular space on the top floor has been turned into a theatre with an oculus to control natural light. Walkways weaving up five stories create a labyrinthine effect. Boardwalk areas outside will house little cafes, while some of the more impressive rooms with the best art deco detailing and flowered columns will serve as restaurants – there is even talk of a steakhouse.

Liu says the project’s main mission is to foster creativity in a city obsessed with wealth.

“True wealth is realizing the value of aesthetics, of design, of art, of culture. Unless you have that fullness, you’re not really wealthy,” Liu says.

People from a diversity of economic classes are welcome. In other words, it’s not going to be as shi-shi and exclusive as Xintiandi and The Bund. Regular people won’t be afraid to come out and have a look, and families are encouraged to visit.

With so many people allowed to be part of the creative mix, Disneyland might not have a corner on where dreams come true.

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