Historic buildings of Shanghai Bund reopen

"The buildings carry memories as well as the original material. You can never build a new building more sustainable than keeping the old one and reusing it," said Chipperfield, also a Pritzker Prize-winning architect. "If you keep a building and renew it, you will win the race."

To mark the completion of the Rockbund project and the opening of the new museum entrance and Museum Plaza, RAM has introduced RAM Assembles.

RAM Assembles seeks to bring together diverse perspectives on both new and old architecture, engaging a wide range of fields concerning contemporary architecture, urbanism, art and design.

For each edition of this new biennial, the RAM team will choose an architect as an artistic director to create a new architectural intervention in the Rockbund neighborhood, with a specific focus on the Museum Plaza.

As Chipperfield was selected to serve as the first edition's creative director, he chose "Public Space" as his curatorial theme.

The public space stands for the areas between buildings that allow people to share space and time, which in Rockbund takes art beyond the museum walls and integrates it into daily life.