This book shines the spotlight on today’s Shanghai and is the first of the series titled Persistence of Vision. The making of this book is prompted by China’s present state of massive demolition of buildings and speedy architectural production.

Taking on a filmic presentation and an oral history documentation approach, the book provides a view on the ethos of the changing China urban frontier by bringing together a collective voice from 50 architects who live and work in Shanghai. Through the sharing of their lives, projects, views, and visions, the book project also aims to present a discussion platform — to explore and contemplate an architectural vision and an architectural language behind the rapid urbanisation process in Shanghai. The interviewee–architects in the book include foreign and diasporic/local Chinese, interns as well as seasoned professionals.