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No.50 Moganshan Road is located in Putuo District on the south bank of Suzhou Creek of Shanghai, which is a triangle crook area. No.50 Moganshan Road has a special passage of history. This site was part of the British Concession and successively of the Japanese Concession, in which Zhou-family, one of the archetypes in circle of Huizhou merchants, built the first row of workshops in 1933, then Xinhe Spinning Mill in 1937, which was turned into Xinhe Cotton Mill in 1949, whose title was altered into Shanghai No.12 Woolen Mill in 1962, then in 1994 transferred to Chunming Roving Factory, and finally was rebuilt as Chunming Urban Industrial Park. More than twenty industrial workshops has collected to stand erect in this Park, which were build in succession from 1938 to 1994 and covers a construction area of more than 300,00 square meter. No.50 Moganshan Road as well as the industrial buildings group there is thus considered as the witness of Chinese national industrial development in Shanghai.
Since 2002 some painters and galleries have settled here, they hire old factory buildings and storehouses as studios and exhibiting space for galleries. An artist community, which is consisted of decades of domestic and overseas studios, galleries along with companies involving in artistical affairs, has been thriving in this two years.
Having been invited by Eastlink Gallery here in August 2004, I took part in the Workshop & Exhibition of “Matchmaking at Suzhou Creek”. I arrived at No.50 Moganshan Road and investigated this plot, and then I learned No.50 Moganshan Road being at this junction: according to the urban exploiting plan, this plot was already sold out to land agent, what would result in the backout of all buildings here, instead of which new high-class residential district would stand there, however, Chunming Roving Factory this part opposed strongly to the backout of the mill area and old buildings, at the same time the experts engaging in conservation planning for urban heritage also insisted their opinion to reserve this plot of mill area, owing to their endeavor the primary plan was hold back, and it was the very time when I came there for the decision of demolishing or not.
The Project of Red Line #2 therefore arose in this background. |
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