[The Roof, Shanghai - Jean Nouvel]

 Jean Nouvel is an architect who values context as much as style. Yet the true strength of his architecture lies beyond contextual interpretation—it enables the past and present to collide and enter into dialogue. His buildings often emerge as urban icons, yet within them reside poetic and philosophical metaphors rooted in historical context. What is even more remarkable is that his work does not remain confined to historical reference; it is equally defined by contemporary technology and future-oriented experimentation. His architecture stands at the apex of engineering while simultaneously touching the realm of poetic sensibility. At the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, Nouvel interpreted Islamic geometric patterns through a system of light diaphragms, producing layered and dynamic spatial effects. At the Lyon Opera House, he superimposed a semi-circular glass and steel structure atop a neoclassical base, creating a powerful encounter between past and present. The dome of the Louvre Abu Dhabi, conceived through the concept of the “Rain of Light,” represents the culmination of poetic imagination fused with regional identity. Through these works, Nouvel demonstrates his ability to traverse history and modernity, writing new architectural narratives grounded in a deep understanding of place and culture.

 The Roof, completed in Shanghai, exists as a continuation of this architectural philosophy. To understand Nouvel’s interpretation, it is necessary to examine Shanghai’s unique historical condition—particularly the architecture of the concessions. The concessions were, in essence, territories “leased and governed” by foreign powers, where extraterritorial autonomy allowed Western nations to administer their own police, governance, taxation, and legal systems. Following the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, the British concession emerged in 1845 around the Bund and Nanjing Road, while the French concession developed around Huaihai Middle Road and Xintiandi. These concessions became places where the architecture, urbanism, and cultural systems of foreign nations were directly transplanted.

 Buildings in the British concession were largely based on neoclassical architecture popular in Britain at the time, characterized by symmetrical façades, ordered compositions, columns, and pediments in the Victorian tradition. In contrast, the French concession developed a more organic, non-grid urban structure, blending Art Nouveau and Art Deco influences. While the British concession was dominated by financial institutions, government buildings, and commercial offices, the French concession was defined by low-rise residences, French residential blocks, cafés, restaurants, and shops.

 The Roof, designed by Nouvel, is located in Xintiandi, one of the most representative districts of the former French concession. The surrounding Fuxing Road and Xintiandi area are characterized by low-rise garden buildings constructed with distinctive French brick. A defining feature of these buildings is the presence of gardens between the sidewalk and the building, creating ambiguous thresholds between private and public realms.

 As foreign residents initially occupied the concessions, the gradual influx of Chinese residents created the need for new hybrid housing types. This led to the emergence of housing derived from the traditional Chinese siheyuan, a courtyard-centered dwelling with buildings arranged on four sides according to hierarchical and familial order. Combined with the Western terraced housing model, this evolved into a medium-density housing type known as Shikumen housing. In Korean terms, this could be understood as a row house typology in which individual houses with small gardens are connected by shared walls. The former Shanghai Provisional Government building is a well-known example of this Shikumen typology.

 Xintiandi, where The Roof is located, was redeveloped from a dense cluster of Shikumen housing into a contemporary urban cultural district. Nouvel sought to reinterpret the spatial logic of the historic lilong—traditional alleyway housing—by translating its ambiguous boundaries and unpredictable circulation into contemporary architectural language. He transformed the intersecting and layered qualities of traditional alleyways into a new architectural scale. The sensory complexity of irregular streets and passageways was reimagined through urban volume and poetic abstraction. The project consists of four interconnected buildings forming a unified complex. The lower levels house public and commercial programs such as shops and cafés, while the upper levels accommodate office spaces. Internal alleyways traverse the complex, connecting interior spaces and linking to underground areas, enabling small public events to take place within internal courtyards. These ambiguous urban thresholds create spaces that are neither fully open nor closed, offering new ways for architecture to engage the city while inviting occupation, movement, and experience.

 To further intensify these neutral boundaries, Nouvel composed the façade using approximately 2,500 planters. Integrated throughout the building envelope and arcade spaces, these planters create an architecture inseparable from landscape. The vegetation transforms the building across seasons, introducing dynamism and vitality. Beyond aesthetics, this planting system performs important environmental functions—reducing fine dust, mitigating the urban heat island effect, and regulating microclimate—allowing the building to function as a living organism within the city. The red planters themselves carry symbolic meaning. Red, a color associated with vitality and auspiciousness in traditional Chinese architecture, also references the historic red brick of Shikumen housing. Through this reinterpretation, Nouvel evokes Shanghai’s collective memory and historical identity, countering the placeless neutrality often associated with modern urban development.

 This urban block, simultaneously architecture and landscape, reimagines the lilong in contemporary form, symbolizing both present and future Shanghai. By dissolving the boundary between architecture and landscape, Nouvel suggests a new architectural typology. The Roof transcends conventional structural and formal systems, emerging through close collaboration between structural engineers and landscape designers. Standardized planting modules, integrated drainage and rainwater systems, and energy-efficient strategies demonstrate how contemporary engineering can address environmental challenges while expanding architectural possibilities. Light, a defining element of Nouvel’s architecture, also plays a central role in The Roof. Shading devices, louvers, deep balconies, and vegetation modulate light while connecting architecture and city. These elements not only create aesthetic distinction but also respond climatically, ensuring comfort within Shanghai’s hot and humid summers.

 Nouvel’s intervention ultimately culminates in a profound reinterpretation of Shanghai’s historical and symbolic context, projecting it toward a future architectural vision. By reexamining the historical meaning of the concessions through the specific context of Xintiandi, he transforms historical memory into a forward-looking architectural proposition. Among Nouvel’s many innovative works, The Roof holds particular significance because it transcends the past and present of Shanghai, translating them into a future architectural language.

2025.11

Jeonghoon Lee

[This article was commissioned by Morning Calm]