WANDER SHANGHAI

1380 Fuxing Middle Road

Shanghai Symphony Hall

上海交响乐团音乐厅

Contemporary hall with low curving roofs

Opened on 6 September 2014 as the orchestra’s new home, the venue combines a 1,200-seat main hall and a 400-seat chamber hall for different musical scales.

Explore the historical timeline
Hall exterior in the 2014 opening report; capture date and photographer not separately stated.

Capture date unstated; published 2014-09-06

Hall exterior in the 2014 opening report; capture date and photographer not separately stated.

The Paper field report: architecture and acoustics · Publishing institution; photographer not separately credited · Image source · Original source declares no open licence

At a glance

Built
Opened 6 September 2014
Architect
Arata Isozaki, architecture; Yasuhisa Toyota, acoustics
Architecture
Contemporary hall with low curving roofs
Original use
Orchestral performance and rehearsal
Present use
Shanghai Symphony Orchestra venue; admission follows event arrangements
Address
1380 Fuxing Middle RoadFuxing Middle Road

Architecture and use: sources[1] [2] [3]

The beginning

Why was it built here?

Opened on 6 September 2014 as the orchestra’s new home, the venue combines a 1,200-seat main hall and a 400-seat chamber hall for different musical scales.[1] [2] [3]

Architect Arata Isozaki and acoustician Yasuhisa Toyota coordinated space, materials and seating details. Proximity to the metro made vibration isolation a central engineering concern.[1] [2] [3]

Look up, then look closer

Details worth a closer look

Massing and façade

Brown-red terracotta walls support low, curving roofs likened to an open musical score. Nicknamed “wonton skin”, this is a contemporary building with a restrained street presence.[1] [2] [3]

Space and details

A glazed entrance and exterior frame link garden, forecourt and interior. An isolation system reduces metro vibration, hidden engineering beneath the visible roof and façades.[1] [2] [3]

One building, changing roles

Read the building through time

Captions distinguish photographic dates from publication dates; periods without reliable images are covered in the text.

  1. 2014-09-06

    Inaugural concert

    The inaugural performance at No. 1380 marked the venue’s official opening.[1] [2] [3]

  2. 2014

    Architecture and acoustics delivered

    Opening reports documented Isozaki and Toyota’s joint work on walls, seats and acoustic reflectors.[1] [2] [3]

  3. 2026

    Venue in the music neighbourhood

    The city’s venue guide continues to list the hall; visits follow current concerts, bookings and opening arrangements.[1] [2] [3]

Today and visiting

Discover the building from the street

Shanghai Symphony Orchestra venue; admission follows event arrangements[1] [2] [3]

Address
1380 Fuxing Middle Road
Visiting
Observe from public pavements; entry follows posted opening and booking rules. Respect residential, office and worship uses. A guide marker is not permission to enter.
Find the address on a map ↗

Sources checked: 2026-10-26 · Observe from public pavements; entry follows posted opening and booking rules. Respect residential, office and worship uses. A guide marker is not permission to enter.

Shanghai and the world

Read history across the neighbourhood

Neighbouring apartments, houses and public spaces have different construction and use histories. Addresses, photograph directions and records together reveal how the neighbourhood developed.[1] [2] [3]

Blackstone ApartmentsElizabeth Apartments

Text and image sources

This account is based on the sources below. Unverified details are identified as such. Where photographs are included, sources and licences are listed beneath each image.

  1. Ministry of Culture: hall opening in 2014 ↗

    Compiled from the listed evidence. Publication, capture and construction dates are distinguished.

  2. The Paper field report: architecture and acoustics ↗

    Compiled from the listed evidence. Publication, capture and construction dates are distinguished.

  3. Shanghai government: Xuhui cultural venues ↗

    Compiled from the listed evidence. Publication, capture and construction dates are distinguished.

  4. The Paper field report: architecture and acoustics ↗

    Original source declares no open licence

Image handling and dating

Images come from the archives or image source pages listed beneath each photograph. We resize and compress them to WebP, preserving their original proportions without colourisation or added detail. Grain, blur and scanning marks in historical photographs are retained.

Original framing is retained, with WebP conversion and previews only. Article dates do not replace unknown capture dates; drawings and photographs are identified separately.