By LAWRENCE TAN

Conceived as a new commercial hub for creative industries, Shanghai’s 1933 in historic Hongkou District has a rather inglorious past – that of a former abattoir and derelict factory that dates back to the 1930s, and until the refurbishment, has largely laid in ruins.

However, that unfashionable past has been turned on its head, and given a marketing spin to deliberately draw attention to its former incarnation as a slaughterhouse.

Think along the lines of the Les Halles (Old Central Market) in Paris or the Meatpacking District in New York, and you will have an idea of the inspiration behind 1933 and the direction it is heading.

China’s two-pronged approach to sweeping architectural renaissance and urban landscaping has seen futuristic and avant-garde buildings such as the iconic Beijing National Stadium (more commonly referred to as the Bird’s Nest), the bubble-wrapped National Aquatics Center (The Cube), the gravity-defying CCTV headquarters, and the beehive-like Sinosteel International Plaza spring up in cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin.

The other approach involves resurrecting historic industrial buildings back to their former glories, and giving it a new lease of life, such as the Blur Hotel, and The Village at Sanlitun. 1933 belongs to the latter. 

Restored to its former art deco glory at a cost of RMB100 million, 1933 has already managed to attract the likes of leading multinational brands such as Apple, Omnicom, American Apparel, and the Ferrari Owners Club to base their operations there.

When fully occupied, 1933 will house design studios, luxury boutiques, restaurants, bars and clubs, artists’ guilds, galleries, educational institutions, and stage high-profile events such as art exhibitions, theater performances, perhaps even a biennale. And that can only bode well for this historic industrial town, as it seeks to transform itself into a cultural and intellectual epicenter.

www.1933-shanghai.com