Former Site of the Shanghai Special Municipal Government

Former Site of the Shanghai Special Municipal Government

The Former Site of the Shanghai Special Municipal Government is a protected cultural heritage site of Shanghai.

The Former Site of the Shanghai Special Municipal Government is located in the Fenglinqiao area of Xuhui District. The site consists of Building No. 3 and Building No. 7, which are connected by a second-floor corridor. The buildings feature plain red brick walls adorned with minimal antique decorative bands and simplified classical window moldings. Constructed in 1919, the site was originally the office of the Jiangsu Foreign Affairs Commissioner, and in 1927 it became the office building of the Shanghai Special Municipal Government. In 1933, the new headquarters of the Shanghai Special Municipal Government was completed in Jiangwan, and the government offices were subsequently relocated from Pingjiang Road to the new building in Jiangwan. The building at 48 Pingjiang Road was later used by the Shanghai Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In November 1936, the property was transferred to the Shanghai Military Medical Affairs Committee. During the War of Resistance, the site served as part of the administrative offices of the Wang puppet regime. After 1949, the building was nationalized; the main building was briefly used as a kindergarten for a medical university, while the auxiliary building housed faculty residences. In 1975, after an exchange of properties between the First Research Institute of Telecommunications Science and Technology (formerly the First Research Institute of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications) and the Shanghai First Medical College, the building became their office location.

This is a charming two-story small red building, constructed entirely with the familiar red bricks that give the entire structure a radiant charm through their simplicity. The most interesting design feature of the building is the H-shaped terrace that connects the main and auxiliary buildings, giving the otherwise boxy structure a sense of fluidity and twists. Standing on the second-floor terrace and looking up, the rows of red firewalls draw crisp arcs against the blue sky—truly breathtaking. At both ends of the overall Western-style architecture, uniquely shaped gable walls rise above the roofline, adopting a variation of the traditional Chinese residential firewall design, with gracefully curved lines.

The building complex consists of two structures whose floor plans are perpendicular to each other. The buildings share a consistent style inspired by traditional Chinese architecture—featuring upturned eaves, grand roofs, green-glazed tiles, beams, pillars, and bracket sets, all rendered in rich colors that evoke the grandeur of ancient Chinese palatial buildings. However, the design does not strictly adhere to classical conventions; the gracefully curved gable walls introduce an element of variation inspired by traditional Chinese residential firewall designs, blending with the curves of the gable battlements and the circular openings of the chimney flues, resulting in a uniquely lively and dynamic aesthetic. On the second floor, an outdoor corridor connects the sections, and the textured red brick walls display rich detail. The vase-shaped balustrades on the outer corridor reflect the legacy of traditional Western architectural ornamentation, while the exposed concrete beams on the open-air corridor reveal a distinctly modern architectural touch of the 20th century.

The Former Site of the Shanghai Special Municipal Government was listed as part of the eighth batch of protected cultural heritage sites of Shanghai.