Built in 1933, the old Shanghai Abattoir is a fine example of early 20th-century industrial art. Developed by two Zhejiang businessmen – who also built the Post Office overlooking Suzhou Creek – and designed by an English architect using cement shipped from the UK, the abattoir features a strikingly-carved art deco frontage topped by a square, almost Moorish, central dome. Sitting on a curving parcel of land spliced by a meandering creek, it functioned as a slaughterhouse until being converted into a medicine factory in 1970.
Today, the former slaughterhouse is being given a major makeover – convering it into Shanghai’s newest hub for culture and creative arts.
Creativity is the key word. The Hongkou government decided to renovate the abattoir as a creative industries center, but needed a partner to conceptualize and deliver this objective. It turned to Paul Liu – the ex-CFO of Three on the Buns, who had visited the rundown former abattoir two years previously and was intrigued by its potential. Liu teamed up with Lily Wang, a former investment banker and publisher of Cigar Ambassador magazine, to launch Axons Concepts. They hired restaurateur David Laris as creative consultant and devised a pitch. The result was a 15-year contract to develop and manage the new 1933 creative centre at the former abattoir.
To read our full report on the new 1933 Creative Arts Centre, published by That’s Shanghai magazine, visit:
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