Opened in 2014, the Long Museum West Bund was an unassuming addition to Shanghai’s landscape—yet it quietly became one of China’s most iconic modern structures. In an era of “demolish and rebuild,” where only the most storied buildings were spared from redevelopment, Long Museum defied convention. Retaining the site’s original iron tracks and coal hoppers, Atelier Deshaus crafted an architectural dialogue between old and new, embodying memory through its sculpted concrete umbrellas and flowing spaces, a cityscape puzzle bridging past and future.

My favourite part of the museum is the passage where historic and contemporary forms meet. This public route to the river is a gathering space for locals and travellers alike—flâneurs, street photographers, flute players, and delivery workers find shelter here, crossing paths only briefly, each absorbed in their own world.

Since moving to Shanghai to study architecture in 2014, I’ve returned often to capture this space, witnessing Olafur Eliasson’s dreamlike light installations and Bourgeois’ sculptures. The museum’s powerful design takes centre stage, as if the art were mere accents. Even its name, "Long," drawn from the founders’ initials, feels apt: the stretched metal façade casts dragon-scale shadows in the sunset, a fitting tribute to Shanghai’s quietly enduring cultural landmark.