Download Bund walk After 1949 Mao thought they should pull the bund

Bund walk
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After 1949 Mao thought they should pull the bund buildings down
He lacked money
The buildings were reused for other things
1990’s the bund was restored and buyers were found for the buildings.
Book: The Bund faces West by Hibbard
Four main architectural styles on the bund
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Comprador
o Iberian 1840-1880
o Many verandas—now enclosed
o 2 levels, business on the main floor, residence on the second floor.
o Made of Cyprus tree wood posts—tallest tree that will weather the humidity
 Lack of tall wood here influences the temples to be not very tall
o Three comprador left on the bund British consulate is one
Queen Anne revival
o She was Dutch—vaguely Dutch style
o Curving turrets
Neo Classical Revival
o Pillars
o Three levels: base, waist, top
o Many of this style on the bund
Art Deco
o Many vertical lines
o Often combined with other influences, like Chinese or Egyptian
o Egyptomania followed the excavation of King Tut’s tomb
The Bund houses 52 buildings of various architectural styles such as Romanesque,
Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Beaux-Arts, and Art Deco (Shanghai has
one of the richest collections of Art Deco architectures in the world). From the south, the
main buildings are:
Start at Broadway mansion
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Art deco
Looks like monopoly board hotel,
Chinese people like the shape
top 八(good luck), symmetry
Originally correspondents club.
the journalists hung out
built in 1936
because of ba shape
Top floor was where
Astor House across the street
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In 1949 name changed to Shanghai House
Recently name changed back to western name to attract foreigners
Russian Embassy across the street, still the consulate
Suzhou Creek Bridge
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Built in 1907
Represented the new modern age in Shanghai
Steel smelted in England and shipped—very modern then
No iron in Shanghai
Peninsula Hotel
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Where the road and plantings are there used to be a 6 lane road and a concrete wall
Built a tunnel for the SH Expo 2010
Garden area is part of the Rock bund
Peninsula was offered the largest building on the street (the one with the dome on top) but
turned it down ($12 million per year), plus no drive up access
Rock bund
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Street behind the bund, used to be the main street
Newly rebuilt in style of original
Rock stands for Rockefeller, who helped pay for the beautification project
Rockefeller foundation sold use of name to Mitsubishi when they bought the Rockefeller center
in Manhattan
They started the beautification project with a Japanese designer, but he was replaced with a
Hong Kong designer because the government wanted a Chinese architect
Bund is short for the Hindu word “Waitan Bund” which means muddy river front. British soldiers
from India named it.
The Huangpu used to flood every year. Now a retaining wall stops the flooding, but the lack of
new deposits of mud means the ground shrinks a bit every year
The “bund” includes everything in the three blocks near the river.
British Consulate/Consul General house
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Grey brick from Suzhou Creek. Orange brick imported for contrast
Shanghai at the time only had grey clay
Wood scarce in SH—only Cyprus, which was used
Comprador style—verandas now enclosed
Somekh building
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Sephardic Jewish Trading company
YWCA Building
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Fusion of Art deco and Chinese
Lotus leaves at the bottom
Stylized clouds for good luck
Designed by Chinese American New Yorker Hoygan Li
Built during chiang Kai Chek’s reign
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1930’s flavor
Teach Chinese women
Lobby is the same as originally
House of Roosevelt
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Renamed in 1966, then back to original to draw tourists
Scottish feel
Neo Classical: Base, Waist, and top
ICBC Bank
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Built by Japanese bank in 1923
Zen Buddhist
In the Cultural revolution the Buddha faces were sledgehammered
Now the biggest bank on the planet
Egyptian column capitals inside
During 1949-1990 it was a ping pong palace
Construction technology
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The Peace hotel dug down 2000 feet to try to find bedrock but found only grey mud.
The buildings are all built on wooden rafts to hold up the building’s weight
The new pudong buildings are built on concrete rafts filled with air to hold up the weight
Wooden rafts work for 300 years, then start to sink, petrify
Venice is built on wooden rafts, but is more than 300 years old, so it is sinking into the mud
Some of the calculations of the stone building weight were not very accurate
Some buildings have curved line as you look away from the river down the side of the building.
They sank where part of the building is heavier
The tunnel construction two years ago left new cracks vertically in solid granite pillars. New
crack appeared just 6 months ago.
#23 Bank of China then and now
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Art Deco and Chinese fusion architechure
#20 RBS-Peace Hotel
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Faces east for the view for the western visitors, but the main entrance is on the south side for
feng shui.
Many famous visitors have stayed here.
Nile river squiggles
Egyptian jackals, sarcophagus over door
Pyramid on roof
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Egyptomania and art deco
Sun god Ra circles
Sir victor Sassoon built it in 1926-1929
Didn’t let other buildings be taller after that
Art gallery has pictures from people who stayed here
Go in 8th floor, has restaurants and a beautiful ballroom on the south side with lalique sconces
Originally Café Hotel, but name changed to Peace Hotel
Owned by the government, but Fairmont is the partner with the gov’t who runs it.
Swatch Art Peace Hotel
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Watch center
Get watches custom designed there
Store the watches there
Houses watch designers when they come to design watches
Caters to extreme luxury, like Dunhill House on Huaihai where you can get haircuts, tailors
Great restaurant
#18 British Bank then Shipping firm
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Til 1989 dormitory then garment factory
First building remade for commercial retail
Gau—Beijing artist sculptures making fun of chinese—don’t have to bow and scrape any more,
but still bowing to the west
#15 China Foreign Exchange Trade
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Sunk into the mud—look at front door.
No buyer for this one. Government still owns it
#13 Custom House
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Starting to lean toward the street
Vertical cracks in solid granite columns
Gov’t office
Some cracks are brand new just 6 months ago from tunnel excavations in 2010
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The Customs House (No. 13, The Bund), was built in 1927 on the site of an earlier,
traditional Chinese-style customs house. The clock and bell was built in England and in
imitation of Big Ben.
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#12 Shanghai Pudong Development Bank
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Silk road possibly influenced Brits to put 2 lions in front of buildings following the Chinese style
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Chinese have two lions in front of doors—male and female. Both have manes. The male has his
paw on an orb of power, the female has her cub in her paw
Built 1923
Most expensive building in the world. No price limit
Mosaics made in Italy, artists brought to china to install
Luxemburg, Dutch, Spanish embassies (consulates) here
In 1949 became SH city Hall
Plastered over ceiling mosaics because they were too western in 1966
Rediscovered them
Peninsula Hotel was offered the site for a hotel but declined--$12 Million per year, no car access
Bank now, but few people use it.
The HSBC Building (No. 12, The Bund), now used by the Shanghai Pudong
Development Bank, was once the Shanghai headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corporation, which failed to reach a deal with the Shanghai government to buy
the building again in the 1990s, when the Shanghai government moved out of the
building that they had used since the 1950s. The present building was completed in 1923.
At the time, it was called "the most luxurious building between the Suez Canal and the
Bering Strait". Its famous ceiling mosaics have been fully restored, and can be viewed
inside the entrance hall.
China Merchants Bank Building (No. 6, The Bund), housed the first Chinese-owned bank in
China is now Shiatzy Chen’s Shanghai flagship store,which opened in October 2005.
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Gothic style
Built ching Dynasty
Originally brick, brick plastered with gray plaster
SunAqua Japanese restaurant excellent
#5 M on the Bund is the restaurant in the highest floor
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Nissin Building (No. 5, The Bund), housed a Japanese shipping company.
Shanghai Club (No. 2, The Bund), which was the principal social club for British nationals
in Shanghai. Since 2010 the Waldorf-Astoria Shanghai Hotel.
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Built in 1910
Men’s club
10 large suites plus other hotel rooms
Sailor dorms until renewed
American built
Longbar—longest bar in Asia, used to be the longest in the world
Baroque Revival style
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Called Correspondents club
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Wikipedia entries
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The Bund houses 52 buildings of various architectural styles such as Romanesque,
Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, Neo-Classical, Beaux-Arts, and Art Deco (Shanghai has
one of the richest collections of Art Deco architectures in the world). From the south, the
main buildings are:
Asia Building (No. 1, The Bund), originally the McBain Building, housed the Shanghai
offices of Royal Dutch Shell and Asiatic Petroleum Company.
Shanghai Club (No. 2, The Bund), which was the principal social club for British nationals
in Shanghai. Since 2010 the Waldorf-Astoria Shanghai Hotel.
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Built in 1910
Men’s club
10 large suites plus other hotel rooms
Sailor dorms until renewed
American built
Longbar—longest bar in Asia, used to be the longest in the world
Baroque Revival style
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Called Correspondents club
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Union Building (No. 3, The Bund), housed a number of insurance companies.
The Mercantile Bank of India, London, and China building (No. 4, The Bund), housed
the Mercantile Bank of India, London and China, built between 1916-1918.
Nissin Building (No. 5, The Bund), housed a Japanese shipping company.
China Merchants Bank Building (No. 6, The Bund), housed the first Chinese-owned bank
in China is now Shiatzy Chen’s Shanghai flagship store,which opened in October 2005.
The Great Northern Telegraph Corporation Building (No. 7, The Bund), housed Great
Northern Telegraph Company. Site of the first telephone switch in Shanghai in 1882.
Russel & Co. Building (No. 9, The Bund), now houses the China Shipping Merchant
Company.
The HSBC Building (No. 12, The Bund), now used by the Shanghai Pudong Development
Bank, was once the Shanghai headquarters of the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation, which failed to reach a deal with the Shanghai government to buy the building
again in the 1990s, when the Shanghai government moved out of the building that they had
used since the 1950s. The present building was completed in 1923. At the time, it was called
"the most luxurious building between the Suez Canal and the Bering Strait". Its famous
ceiling mosaics have been fully restored, and can be viewed inside the entrance hall.
The Customs House (No. 13, The Bund), was built in 1927 on the site of an earlier,
traditional Chinese-style customs house. The clock and bell was built in England and in
imitation of Big Ben.
China Bank of Communications Building (No. 14, The Bund), was the last building to be
built on the Bund. It now houses the Shanghai Council of Trade Unions.
Russo-Chinese Bank Building (No. 15, The Bund) is now the Shanghai Foreign Exchange.
Bank of Taiwan Building (No. 16, The Bund) is now the China Merchants Bank.
North China Daily News Building (No. 17, The Bund) housed the most influential Englishlanguage newspaper in Shanghai at the time. Today it houses AIA Insurance.
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Chartered Bank Building (No. 18, The Bund) housed the Shanghai headquarters of what
became Standard Chartered Bank the building now houses designer shops and a creative
exhibition space.
Palace Hotel (No. 19, The Bund), today forms part of the Peace Hotel.
Sassoon House (No. 20, The Bund), with the attached Cathay Hotel, was built by Sir Victor
Sassoon. It was, and still is today, famous for its jazz band in its cafe. The top floor
originally housed Sassoon's private apartment. Today, it forms the other part of the Peace
Hotel.
Bank of China Building (No. 23, The Bund) housed the headquarters of the Bank of China.
The stunted appearance of the building is attributed to Sassoon's insistence that no other
building on the Bund could rise higher than his.
Yokohama Specie Bank Building (No. 24, The Bund) housed the Japanese Yokohama
Specie Bank.
'Yangtsze Insurance Association Building (No. 26, The Bund) Today houses the a
Shanghai branch of the Agricultural Bank of China.
Jardine Matheson Building (No. 27, The Bund) housed the then-powerful Jardine
Matheson company.
Glen Line Building (No. 2 Beijing Road) today houses the Shanghai Broadcasting Board.
Banque de l'Indochine Building (No. 29, The Bund) housed the French bank, Banque de
l'Indochine.
Consulate-General of the United Kingdom (No. 33, The Bund) housed the ConsulateGeneral of the United Kingdom. The building has been renovated and in 2010 re-opened as
No 1 Waitanyuan, a private dining facility for government. Part of the site has also been used
to build the Peninsula Hotel, Shanghai which opened in 2010.