Concession Era Shanghai 3D print model

In 1842, the First Opium War between the United Kingdom and China ended with the Treaty of Nanking. As part of this treaty, the five cities of Shanghai, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Fuzhou, and Xiamen had their ports opened to foreign trade. Further areas of Chinese port cities were ceded to Western powers and Japan in the coming decades. Some of the most remarkable changes occured in Shanghai. The swampy medieval walled city near the mouth of the Yangtze River soon attracted émigrés from around the world, transforming Shanghai into a booming metropolis and, later, the largest city in the world. For the near-century that Shanghai was under foreign domination between 1842 and WWII, the city came to boast a magnificent stock of European buildings, including one of the world's largest collections of art deco architecture. This collection includes 10 3D print models of some of Shanghai's most famous buildings of the Concession Era.

The Bund (外滩) - Along the western bank of the Huangpu River on Zhongshan Road stand Shanghai's most impressive Concession Era buildings. This stretch of road was home to some of the most prestigious and wealthy companies in the city at the time. These companies hailed from countries like the United States, Britain, Russia, Japan, Germany, France, and, of course, China. The monumental thoroughfare on the river is the centerpiece of the former International Settlement, the territory of the American and British concessions that unified in 1863.

• HSBC Building (No 12.) - One of the largest and most striking buildings along the Bund, the HSBC building was commissioned by a British bank, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), and built in 1923. It was the largest and grandest bank building in East Asia at the time of its completion. Its neoclassical design, featuring an imposing tripartite entrance and large dome, was designed by Palmer & Turner. Today, the building is the home of the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.
• Custom House (No. 13) - The tallest building on the Bund is the neoclassical Custom House. The building was also designed by Palmer & Turner and completed in 1927. The prominent clock tower that crowns the building stands as one of the most recognizable landmarks of the city. The building today is still a Custom House.
• North China Daily News Building (No. 18) - This tower was designed by Lester, Johnson & Morriss for the building's namesake English language newspaper. Completed in 1921, it was the tallest building on the Bund at the time. It features a mix of classical and renaissance design. Today, the building houses the American insurance company AIA.
• The Sassoon House (No. 20) - Another one of Shanghai's most recognizable and impressive landmarks, the Sassoon House was built in 1929 for British Iraqi real estate mogul Sir Victor Sassoon. The glamorous art deco building is home to some of Shanghai's swankiest hotel rooms. The building was designed by Palmer & Turner. Other names include the Cathay Hotel and the Peace Hotel.
• The Bank of China Building (No. 23) - Built in 1937, the Bank of China building is one of the most unique buildings of early 20th century Shanghai. Designed by Palmer & Turner, working in collaboration with Lu Qianshou, it is the only building on the Bund that was designed by and for Chinese people. The tower features a design that fuses Western art deco and modern style with traditional Chinese architecture. Originally designed to be by far the tallest building in East Asia at 34 stories, the building was cut down to half its height by the orders of Victor Sassoon, who demanded that no building rise higher than his next-door hotel.

Outside the Bund

• Metropole and Hamilton House - Just west of the Bund, at the northeast and southeast corners of the intersection of Fuzhou Rd (福州路) and Jiangxi Middle Rd (江西中路), are two twin buildings built in the early 1930s. The art deco buildings were designed by Palmer & Turner. Today, the Metropole is a hotel, while the Hamilton House has been renamed the Fuzhou Building, and houses a mix of apartments and offices.
• Industrial Investment Building (工投大楼)- On the Southwest intersection of the same intersection as the above two buildings is another art deco tower built in 1936. For a short time, this building hosted the American consulate in Shanghai.
• Shanghai Park Hotel - Standing above what was known as the Shanghai Race Course (now People's Park) is the Shanghai Park Hotel. Upon its completion in 1934, it was the tallest building in Shanghai. Its remarkable art deco design, inspired by the American Radiator Building in New York City, is the work of Hungarian-Slovak architect László Hudec.
• Grosvenor House - Another one of Shanghai's most prestigious hotels, this building was completed in 1929. It was designed by Palmer & Turner for Victor Sassoon and completed in 1929. Today, the building, still the peak of luxury, is the main building in the Jinjiang Hotel (锦江饭店) complex. The hotel is notable for hosting US President Richard Nixon on his diplomatic visit to China in 1972 in which the Shanghai Communique was signed, beginning the normalization of Sino-American relations.
• Broadway Mansions (百老汇大厦) - This hotel stands on the northern bank of the Wusong River, towering above the Waibaidu Bridge (外白渡桥). The enormous building was designed, once again, by Palmer & Turner in an art deco style very similar to the earlier Grosvenor House. Adding another building to Victor Sassoon's extensive real estate portfolio, the building housed some of the most exclusive hotel rooms for foreigners in Shanghai. For many years after its completion in 1934, it was one of the tallest and most recognizable symbols of Shanghai.

This collection contains an STL format file for each building as well as ZIP files containing 4 additional file formats (OBJ, 3DS, FBX, and DAE) for potential other uses. Please note these models were created solely for 3D printing, so they would likely require extensive reworking and texturing to be used in 3D modeling software for any other purposes.