I am very sad to see many beautiful buildings and other places in Shanghai being destroyed or badly restored. One of the great charms of this city is its links to its past, and to what is left of its unique architecture. Unfortunately, little is done to conserve some of the gems that are still around.
Preserving the “soul”, the character, of a place should really be a priority, and it seems that very few places are properly restored and maintained. Most of the time, they are over-restored, reminding me of those wonderful old classic cars that certain owners hyper-refit in order to make them look “better than new”. I am trying my best to convince the local government to look at its historical properties with different eyes, but this is very challenging as, often, shortcuts seem still to be the quickest and most popular way to do things in China.
I personally do not much like, for instance, the way the superb, world-renowned Peace Hotel (second picture) has recently been restored. It is, undeniably, very well done, but they seem to have forgotten to keep the emotional part of it. One of the most famous and beautiful places in Shanghai is now a building with too much make-up. The memory is gone, and forever.
So when I found twin villas on Huai Hai Road, in the ex-French Concession, back in 2006, my first thought was to fight as hard as I could to preserve the original charisma of the location. It was not easy but, with the help of KoKaiStudios and talented chief architect Filippo Gabbiani, we managed to keep it beautiful but simultaneously make it easier to use for commercial purposes.
I just “found” another of these rare not-yet-restored properties. This one until recently belonged to a Chinese artist, and was bought by the local government. It has a wild garden, almost a little jungle, as nobody has done any work since at least the arrival of the communist regime in Shanghai in 1949.
I am thinking about opening a high-end club (of course – see my previous blog) and maybe a genuinely interesting retail experience – plus a restaurant and possibly a very, very small boutique hotel, as I still have not found a good one in China.
So it is that, deeply inspired by the site, I am again dreaming and trying to find the right project to preserve this wonderful place.
