Urban Space Art Season's Hongkou Exhibition Explores 'Regenerative City'

The Hongkou exhibition of the 2025 Shanghai Urban Space Art Season (SUSAS) opened to the public on Thursday at the historic Henry Lester Institute of Technical Education on the North Bund.

Themed "Re: Generative City," the exhibition explores how cities evolve in the age of artificial intelligence.

As one of 16 SUSAS sub-exhibitions, the Hongkou site aims to merge art, technology and urban renewal. The exhibition seeks to show how digital tools and creative design can reshape public spaces.

Curator Zhang Jie from the Design Innovation Institute Shanghai (DIIS) said the exhibition reflects how cities continuously regenerate like open-source systems.

"Cities evolve through collaboration between people, nature and digital intelligence," Zhang said.

The exhibition uses light, sound and interactive installations to present 15 projects from around the world.

They include Swedish bio-based towns, Namibian mushroom-built houses, and Australian e-waste factories.

Local projects, such as the transformation of Ruihongxincheng residential community in Hongkou, showcase community-driven urban renewal.

Visitors can also join over 10 public events, including AI-generated art workshops, coding experiences, and design markets.

Activities will extend into the North Bund area, turning the waterfront into an open lab for city co-creation.

If you go:

Date: Through November 16 (closed on Mondays), 11am-8pm (last entry at 7:30pm)

Venue: Ground Floor Exhibition Hall, Shanghai Institute of Design and Innovation

Address: 55 Shangqiu Road, Hongkou District (West Gate of Henry Lester Institute of Technical Education)

虹口区商丘路55号