Asia Building

The beginning

Why was it built here?

The Asia Building takes its name from a tenant. McBain built it as a rental property; after the Asiatic Petroleum Company moved in in 1917, the tenant’s name gradually eclipsed the owner’s. There were no oil tanks or refineries here, but the offices formed a node in an international petroleum trading network.[1]

Its position also mattered: the Huangpu River lies to the east, and the road on the former Yangjingbang Creek to the south. Visible from both directions, the building greets people approaching along the waterfront and marks the entrance to the Bund from the city.[1]

Look up, then look closer

Three details worth a closer look

One building, changing roles

History unfolds between the photographs

From earlier buildings to the one standing today. Captions distinguish photographic dates from publication dates; periods without reliable images are covered in the text.

1. 1913–1916

   A rental building rises at the corner

   Financed by McBain and designed by Moorhead & Halse, the new building gave the southern end of the Bund a distinctive corner façade.[1]

2. 1917

   The petroleum company leaves its name

   Asiatic Petroleum rented most of the floors. The change of name shows how a long-term occupier can shape a building’s place in urban memory.[1]

3. Published in 1927

   No. 1 Bund before its extension

   This plate preserves the pre-extension outline together with vehicles and pedestrians in the street. The publication year is established; the exact date of photography is unknown.

   Enlarge ＋

4. 1938

   An additional floor above the roof

   An eighth floor was added. The building’s present mass includes later expansion and cannot simply be read back into photographs of the 1920s.[1]

5. Second half of the 20th century

   From petroleum to institutional offices

   Petroleum, design and other organisations successively used the building. Following a property exchange in the 1990s, it also housed the headquarters of China Pacific Insurance.[1]

6. 2019–2022

   An arts centre and auction spaces arrive

   Jiushi International Art Centre opened, followed by Christie’s. The former office building began accommodating exhibitions and art sales.[1]

7. 2026

   The new Jiushi Art Museum opens

   The new museum opened on floors 2 and 3 on 31 March. This change of address brought the former oil company offices into another phase of the city’s public cultural life.[2]

Shanghai and the world

One street, two kinds of everyday life

The Shanghai Club to the north served social life, while this building served corporate offices. Trade in the same city needed both businesses and places to meet and maintain connections.[1]