Old Millfun 1933. From Slaughterhouse to Art Center

Shanghai was one of the first cities in China to face the probIems reiated to the maintenance and to the guardianship of industriaI heritage. ParticuIarly interesting is the restoration of the Shanghai Municipal Council Slaughterhouse, with its specific and unusual architectural solution and evocative inside spaces. The Slaughterhouse, built in 1933, was arranged into a square with an inner circle, four perimeter buildings were linked to the centraI main buiIding through scuIpturai concrete ramps, bridges, and spiraI staircases. The buiIding was used as abattoir until the 1960s, but during the 20th century, alterations and disrepair rendered its originaI architecture unrecognisabIe. In 2006 a refurbishment process highIighting its historical styIe was begun, and which compieteIy dispIays the originaI and mysterious nature of the buiIding. Currently the slaughterhouse spaces are used for creative industry, exhibitions, conferences, a history museum, and a theater, and it c1early shows how the protection of industriaI heritage can be rehabilitated, in accordance with the originaI nature ofthe construction, to accommodate new functions.