group | Ordinary Metropolis--Shanghai: a Model of Urbanism

Is modernity and the modern experience confined exclusively to canonical or European models? Does modernism only follow the pattern of locally received foreign influence? If modernity is not only about foreign influence, how do we interpret the autonomous features of Shanghai's modern urbanism?

To answer these questions we need to consider not only modern architecture and the city, but as well examine a broader horizon that includes other aspects of culture such as literature, film, and everyday life to provide a wider context for understanding. This exhibition has four sections: 1) The Greater Shanghai Plan: A Model of Modern Metropolis Planning; 2) Archipelago: A Model for Modern Life; 3) The New Workers' Village: Chinese Modernism Life; 4) Ordinary Metropolis: "Utopia" for Living.