The Vanishing Identity. Birth, Development and Disappearance of the Lilong Housing in Shanghai

Contemporary Shanghai is the epicenter of outstanding economic, social and cultural changes, resulting in the raise of new questions about demographic growth, environmental sustainability, urban security and cultural identity. These issues coalesced in the development of extensive, accelerated and sometimes contradictory architectural transformations, also driven by increasing resource availability and the necessity for rapid densification in the central areas of the city, which led to the progressive loss of significant historical traces. By exploring the ongoing evolution of some strategic areas - the Lilong quartiers, the Bund, the system of public spaces facing the water - and the experiences of selected architects - Atelier Deshaus, Atelier Liu Yuyang Architects and Original Design Studio -, the book analyses the fields, the reasons and the modalities of these transformations, and outlines the raise of a counter-trend emerging from the most recent interventions on both existing and new buildings, which are experimenting with new relationships with the local history, cultural heritage and urban identity.