In May, the streets of Shanghai continued to be new, and the "Columbia Residential Circle" had new trends, with the Xiangzhang Square adjacent to Panyu Road and the second phase of Shangsheng Xinsuo N1 newly opened to the public, and the outdoor cycling collection brand "1940", Blue Bottle Coffee, and Ozark Hub also appeared in the block, bringing new lifestyle proposals. The Café Theatre Festival, which began this month, is also staged in the neighborhood, with the upcoming immersive fragrance drama "Formula 11" and the double-sided stage play "Lost Love in Marriage", where the old and the new collide......
On both sides of Panyu Road, the sycamore is green, and the houses are lined up, and this area is well-known as "foreign lanes". As early as the 20s of the last century, the American architect Harshad built the "Columbia Country Club" on today's West Yan'an Road, with baroque architecture and open-air swimming pool, which was the first building in the "Columbia Circle" (Columbia Circle). Today, together with Hudak's masterpiece "Sun Ke Villa", Shangsheng Xinsuo has become a fashionable landmark of Shanghai's cultural life.
Anthropologist Xiang Biao once wrote "From the Virtual World to Real Social, How Do We Reconstruct the Neighborhood?" The idea of "the first 500 meters" was proposed. Xiang Biao believes that the thinking about the "first 500 meters" is for the "last 500 meters". The "last 500 meters" are proposed by e-commerce company platforms, logistics and city administrations, while the "first 500 meters" are the other way around, starting from each individual and extending from the 500 meters around them, connecting a larger world.
A 100-year-old neighborhood filled with refreshing shops, public spaces and performances. Take part in an immersive drama that travels back in time at the timeless Villa Sunko, or read to the aroma of coffee at the Blue Bottle coffee at the end of Columbia Avenue......
Follow the three clues of "coffee", "architecture" and "creativity", open the citywalk full of new ideas, and explore the freshest cultural vitality of this neighborhood!
01
A new proposition for coffee
coffea SHED
Even in the Xinhua Road neighborhood, which is full of coffee, the coffee SHED downstairs is also unique. Surrounded by green creepers, the wood-coloured space and the metal canopy supported by concrete pillars stretch towards the plaza, casting a cool shadow – this is the new café retail space coffea SHED. Open to public squares and communities, it has become a gathering place for lovers of handicrafts, outdoor goods, and greenery, selling coffee, agricultural and sideline products, and daily necessities.
SHED is inspired by the "greenhouses" that can be found everywhere in coffee producing areas. In coffee plantations in Brazil, India, Ethiopia and other places, farmers chat, rest, and eat under greenhouses to relieve the fatigue of farm work. A platform that connects urban consumers and producers should be in a spacious, open space under such a greenhouse. coffea SHED also builds a space for busy urbanites in Shanghai to rest, gather and communicate happily, and becomes a daily gathering place for residents in the neighborhood.
Columbia Circle
Blue Bottle Coffee
Walking along Columbia Avenue to the end, the eye-catching blue logo of Blue Bottle Coffee will come into view. In March, Blue Bottle Coffee opened its seventh store in China, Shangsheng Xin, and the interior designed by Neri&Hu Design Lab continues the usual white space style, with a central island, staggered seating and an ingenious under-eaves space.
Step into the familiar aroma of coffee and you'll find a neatly arranged selection of magazines and books from the neighbor's Tsutaya Bookstore. Customers who arrive each morning will also receive a store-limited hand-painted coloring book and colored pencils. From the design details to the spatial experience, this blue bottle shows a stronger connection to the history of the place and a more vivid sense of community. Located in a historic cultural district, Blue Bottle Cafe hopes that residents of all ages living in the surrounding area will be able to use it as a "third place" to enjoy in their daily lives.
Columbia Circle
Ecf· M2F
M2F, once adjacent to Shanghai Film City, has witnessed the changes and renewals of Xinhua Road over the years, and the most representative coffee shop on Xinhua Road is now relocated in the park next to Xinhua Villa. The American-style retro-style café is as popular as ever, and the silent barista and chef Yomasa Okawa is busy at the bar. The quiet atmosphere is perfect for sitting and ordering a cup of coffee made with heart and sipping it slowly. The store is also equipped with an interpreter machine, so customers can place orders from a tablet.
Columbia Circle
Stop Shop
With Ecf· M2F, also located at Stop Shop in Lane 345 Xinhua Road, is a pet-friendly sustainable coffee shop. If the former represents a tranquil afternoon on Xinhua Road, the latter is a vibrant and inspired walkthrough.
Compared to the regular café, Stop Shop's store shelves and display cases are dazzling, and recycled handmade accessories, bicycles, sustainable clothing, artworks and more fill every view. Outside the door, a mini vegetable garden and potted plants form a different kind of greenery, and the transparent "Xinhua Toy Exchange House" attracts people to walk in. Many residents living nearby will bring their puppies to the store, order a cup of coffee, and roam the shelves casually, looking for surprise finds.
Columbia Circle
02
A contemporary rebirth of Hudak's architecture
In February this year, the Hudak Memorial Hall on Panyu Road was closed, and this exquisite building has welcomed a steady stream of "Hudak fans" for the past 11 years, and has also continued to evoke memories of that modern, prosperous and eclectic era. However, Hudak's influence on the city never ceased, as I.M. Pei wrote in a letter to Hudak's daughter, "Hudak's architecture was, is, and will always be a bright spot in Shanghai's urban skyline." ”
In 1928, when Hudak was shining in Shanghai's architectural scene, he was commissioned by Puyi Real Estate to design a garden house community called the Columbia Residential Circle. The development of Columbia's residential neighborhood, from master planning to architectural design, is based on the most popular villa styles on the West Coast of the United States at the time. In this area, we can still see Hudak's design of bungalows in a variety of styles, including English, Italian, Spanish, Sacramento, Californian, Florida, San Diego, Hollywood, and English Country. For example, Lane 329, Lane 36, the former residence of the Spanish minister, is better known as the "Cake House". This one-of-a-kind two-storey circular garden villa is full of fairytale dreams and is said to be one of Hudak's favourite pieces······ These buildings are the architectural classics of old Shanghai in the 20th century, and they are also rejuvenated today.
Villa Sunko
Witnessing the twists and turns of history, and incarnating into a high-profile cultural new place in Shanghai, Sun Ke Villa vividly embodies the historical legend and cultural innovation of a city. The Columbia Village Association, designed by Hashad, and the Sunco Villa designed by Hudak, together form the current Shangsheng Xinsuo. One of Hudak's masterpieces, Villa Sunco is a mix of Art Deco and Byzantine Spanish styles, and is extremely sophisticated. There are many theories about the origin of this villa, and it is rumored that Hudak received the help of Sun Ke when he was building the Moore Hall. In order to thank the other party, Hudak transferred the house originally designed for himself and his family to Sun Ke at a low price, and relocated the site to Columbia Road (now Panyu Road) to build his own house.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, it was hidden in the downtown as the Shanghai Institute of Biological Products. It wasn't until 2020 that we finally had the opportunity to visit Villa Sunko, a unique landmark for cultural exchange in the neighborhood, providing a unique historical context for art exhibitions and theatrical performances. This month, for example, Villa Sunco was transformed into an immersive theatre with the French café play "Memorandum," which tells a bizarre and romantic story that takes place in an apartment.
Columbia Circle
Hudak's House
Across the street from Villa Sunke, No. 129 Panyu Road is a cosy English country-style building where Hudak and his family lived for seven years. From dilapidated to renovated, it has also served as a Hudak Memorial Hall that has welcomed more than 1 million visitors in 11 years.
The Tudor-style building, with its distinctly British heritage, was a favorite of his wife, Gisela, and a reminder of Hudak's attachment to his distant hometown of Banscar. The wide courtyard, the rough white walls, the steep roofs, the dormer windows, the resting platform designed by Hudak to feed the pigeons, and the agile bird sculptures on the roof ridge bear witness to the glorious years of Hudak's career, and in this residence, he completed important design projects such as the Daguang Cinema, the International Hotel, and the Wu Tongwen Residence.
Columbia Circle
Dahua Apartments
In 1936, Hudak sold his home at 129 Panyu Road to a German diplomat, and moved with his family to live in the Dahua apartment he had developed and designed, until he left Shanghai in 1947. Located at 918 West Yan'an Road, this bright, minimalist white apartment building is a 10-storey, 90-room apartment building that has been renovated as a hotel.
In order to seize the opportunity of the real estate boom in Shanghai in the twenties and thirties of the last century, Hudak invested in the construction of Dahua Apartment in 1935, which was also the last place he and his family lived in Shanghai, and was known as the "Little International Hotel". The ambitious Hudak made the apartment the tallest building in the area at the time, and it also caused a lot of international repercussions. The work was published in specialized magazines in Spain and Japan that year, and compared it to a number of residential buildings in England and Prague and Milan. The design of Dahua Residences is clearly influenced by modern European houses, with simple and bright shapes and smooth horizontal lines.
Columbia Circle
03
The city is a stage
Raccoon record store
After watching a movie, I walked out of the theater and met the Raccoon Record Store on the 6th floor of Shanghai Film City. Step into the expansive store space and be dazzled by the abundance of vinyl inventory. Continuing the consistent standard of the old Yueyang Road store of Raccoon Records, this store has vinyl records, CDs, record players, stereos, and cultural and creative peripherals. In order to better fit with the unique cultural environment of Shanghai Film City, this raccoon record store has also expanded the display area of film and television, games, animation soundtracks, as well as the original books of the "Raccoon Book Market", so that vinyl lovers will not want to leave. From the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan's concerts to the interstellar sci-fi soundtracks, the raccoon record store also brings a lively music and culture scene to Xinhua Road.
Columbia Circle
艺术商店Pausa STORE
On the west side of Shangsheng Shinsho, Pausa STORE, an art shop located on Kindale Xinhua Road, brings a new art atmosphere to the neighborhood. Artist Yang Chen's giant inflatable sculpture "Throwing Rabbits" lights up the streets of Panyu Road at night, and the store's illustration art exhibition and interactive graffiti space make this whimsical sensory space a special fun.
Columbia Circle
Shangsheng Xinsuo: New scene
From the Café Theater Festival to the Comedy Festival, Shangsheng Xinsuo, which combines music, performance, architecture, food, and reading, has become the most popular public cultural exchange space in the neighborhood. Whether you are a tourist or a resident living nearby, you will find your own comfortable space here.
Composed of Villa Sunke, Columbia Country Club, and Navy Club, Shangsheng New House has a unique architectural aesthetic and historical precipitation. And when it becomes a fresh scene of contemporary culture, it inspires a landscape of inspiration like never before.
Café drama "Memorandum" staged in Sun Ke's villa
Since 2021, the "New Stage of the City" series of performances has continued to allow everyone to continue to experience the charm of art in the old buildings and public spaces of the park, from jazz and soul to hand drums and brass music. In April, the special "Valentino & Sleepless Nights" special show brought an avant-garde experience of body art and historic buildings. Starting in May, the American coffee drama "Billboard" and the French coffee drama "Memo" will be the first to be performed; During the "Dragon Boat Festival", the immersive fragrance theme drama "Formula No. 11" and the double-sided stage play "Lost Love in Marriage" will bring a unique new experience of watching the drama.
Columbia Circle
Roaming the "Colombian Housing Circle", the novelty is still the same after a hundred years. The city is the stage, and everyone who is there can take part in a never-ending show that takes to the streets to interpret the contemporary spirit that is unique to the city.
撰文-Elsie
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