Historic buildings of Shanghai Bund reopen

The potential for the city to function in the common interests requires people to maintain an idea of what a city should be, and public space is always central to this vision, said Chipperfield.

"If we want to protect the quality of cities, we have to protect not only buildings, but the spaces in between, and we have to think about all of those things which contribute to the quality of life," he added.

Several installations, namely some staircases and small ponds, are designed to activate the interstitial public spaces. They are scattered throughout the Museum Plaza of the Rockbund area and its surrounding alleyways, providing the conditions for spontaneous public activities.

They will also integrate with the art and cultural agenda of RAM Assembles, catalyzing a series of synchronized, multi-location events during the festival.

From Sept 22 to Oct 6, more than 100 activities will occupy Rockbund's public space with the themes of "activation, conversation, and neighborhood", helping people perceive, use, design and respond to public space.

Zheng Zheng contributed to this story.