A gloomy place in Shanghai, once the largest slaughterhouse in the Far East, suddenly felt cold and humid.

On Liyang Road in Hongkou District, Shanghai, there is a very strange and unique old building. The whole building is basilica style in ancient Rome, with a cylindrical basic structure, octagonal umbrella columns supporting a wide hall, covered bridges extending in all directions and criss-crossing. The quaint and old external walls exude a strong historical atmosphere, but some literary and art shops add a fashionable atmosphere. Here is the old square of 1933.

1933 The old factory workshop is an ultra-modern slaughterhouse designed by British architect Balfour and built by Shanghai Ministry of Industry. The slaughterhouse was built in1933165438+10, which was the largest and most modern slaughterhouse in the Far East at that time. After a hundred years, it has become a gathering area of creative industries and a unique location for photographers and film and television circles.

Covered bridges, French spiral ladders, lattice windows and umbrella-shaped columns are the main architectural features of the old factory building of 1933, especially the design of the cattle track, which is one of the characteristic buildings of the slaughterhouse. At that time, the system of separating people from animals was implemented, and the cow path was the place where cows walked. In order to prevent slip, it is designed to be rough and uneven.

Entering the center circle on the second floor from Niudao seems to be entering a maze with corridors, spiral stairs and doors. It's easy to get lost when turning east and west. This was the place where cattle were slaughtered at that time, and the width of each covered bridge was different. Cattle of different sizes have different lanes and enter different slaughter rooms. In order to prevent cattle from hurting people, a large arc spiral staircase was designed for workers to escape.

When you walk in here, you will feel a little cold and damp in an instant. As you can imagine, the slaughterhouse at that time must be a place mixed with blood and animal offal, and there was the sound of animals struggling and whining before they died. If the weather is bad and the light is not good, there is really a creepy feeling.

From the outside, this cleverly designed building is full of vicissitudes and amazing spatial layout. I want to ask, does a slaughterhouse need such a high standard design? Moreover, the concrete of building materials was imported from Britain, which must have cost a lot of money at that time.