Iconoclasts

While Shanghai is a place that constantly inspires and invigorates the creative mind, it is a sad fact that still every day works of culture are destroyed. Modern day iconoclasts, instead of targeting religious artifacts, simply disregard the importance and significance of the architecture that makes Shanghai the most distinctive and thriving city in China. This is not a struggle singular to Shanghai of course; such debates have raged for decades in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo - not to mention cities throughout Europe, America and elsewhere - but, to paraphrase Edmund Burke, all that is necessary for the iconoclasts to win is that creative people do nothing.

One dreads the day that this city finally becomes one giant strip-mall.

Here, another beautiful building (perhaps ironically) right behind the Moganshan Lu art district, earmarked for destruction; the foreboding stamp "拆“ (tear down) indicating it is not long for this world.