Rockbund Art Museum

The Rockbund Art Museum (上海外滩美术馆, Shànghǎi Wàitān Měishùguǎn) at 20 Huqiu Road shows contemporary art in a 1933 Art Deco building that was the Royal Asiatic Society’s home. It has no permanent collection, so what you see depends on the current exhibition. Its official site lists Wednesday to Sunday, 11:00 to 18:00, with last admission at 17:30, and members-only Tuesdays from 12:00.

The building is the older story. The Royal Asiatic Society’s North China Branch was in Shanghai from about 1859, according to Historic Shanghai, and its first building of 1871 was damaged by termites by 1928. Fundraising followed, and a new building opened in 1933. English Wikipedia says construction ran from 1932 to 1933 and credits Palmer and Turner; Historic Shanghai names George “Tug” Wilson and describes a streamlined Art Deco style with Chinese design elements. It held a lecture hall, a library and a museum.

The society’s museum was, in the same source’s words, the city’s only museum, and the street took the name Museum Road. Today’s name is Huqiu Road. The society closed its work in China in 1952, according to English Wikipedia, and its collections passed to Chinese institutions. The building then became housing, and residents moved out in 2006 for the Rockbund redevelopment. Chinese Wikipedia adds that it was also used for storage by the Shanghai Museum and the Shanghai Library.

The conversion came next. English Wikipedia says David Chipperfield led the restoration and design from 2007, extending the building to the east and adding an open plaza at ground level and a rooftop terrace. Chinese Wikipedia describes a three-storey atrium linking the fourth to sixth floors under a skylight. The museum opened in the building in 2010.

When you stand outside, look at the 1933 facade first, then at the eastern extension and the open plaza at ground level; the terrace is on the roof.

Opening rules differ between sources. Chinese Wikipedia gives Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 18:00, and says admission has been free since 2 May 2025, with changes to reservations in June 2025. The museum’s own page, read for this entry, gives the hours above and does not mention tickets or a Monday closure. Rely on the official page and check before you go. Show the Chinese address on this page to a taxi driver.