In 1933, the Shanghai Municipal Council built the largest slaughterhouse in Shanghai.
A brutalist concrete building with Art Deco elements, the design included 26 "air bridges" connecting a rectangular outer building with a circular inner building.
The gap between outer and inner is open to the sky.
The bridges were designed with varying angles and widths to ease the movement of livestock.
Once the slaughterhouse closed, the building was abandoned, but has now been renovated for mixed use including among others a Starbucks, dance studio, doggie day care, drone store, restaurant, furniture store, and a rooftop garden shop.
The raw concrete, stark lighting, and Escher-like quality make the renovated building a magnet for architecture buffs and photographers. But the vision to see these possibilities beyond the filth and stench of an abandoned slaughterhouse is a miracle.
Yours in appreciating an architectural lemon turned into lemonade,
Kelly
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