Majestic Garden Show Village Debuts Globally

SHANGHAI, July 29, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- On July 26, the highly anticipated Majestic Garden Show Village officially debuted globally, positioning itself as "The Pioneer of Pure Courtyard-Style in Shanghai's City Center." Attendees at the unveiling ceremony included Bao Zhihao, Party Secretary and Chairman of Shanghai NANFANG Group; Wang Xinyi, General Manager of CR Land East China Regional Company; Hong Li, Deputy Party Secretary and General Manager of Shanghai NANFANG Group; and Lou Shanjie, General Manager of CR Land Shanghai Company. Together, they witnessed this milestone moment, significant both for urban development and residential value. 

Wang Xinyi stated: "From land acquisition to the realization of this show village, our goal has consistently been 'to create timeless residences for the city center.' Today's opening demonstrates that low-density living in the heart of Shanghai can achieve a perfect balance between historical heritage and modern needs."

Bao Zhihao remarked: "Majestic Garden represents the contemporary continuation of Shanghai Old Town's historical memory, a model of state-owned enterprises fulfilling cultural preservation missions, and Shanghai's showcase to the world of China's approach to urban renewal."

The "Irreplicable" Realization of Low-Density Urban Living

Land resources in Shanghai's city center have long been at a premium, with genuinely low-density residential offerings perennially scarce. Against this backdrop, Majestic Garden—jointly developed by Shanghai NANFANG Group and CR Land—leverages the former's expertise in urban renewal and heritage preservation and the latter's strength in premium residential development. It breathes new life into scarce land while offering a rare opportunity for those seeking low-density living in the urban core.

The project is situated within Shanghai's 700-year-old Old Town, part of the Huangpu River's "Global Living Room" stretch. As the birthplace of Shanghai's civilization, this area nurtured cultural luminaries like Xu Guangqi and the Yao brothers, holds memories of historical sites like Zhu Jia Shan Fang and Jiu Jian Lou, and witnessed the rise and fall of prominent Ming-Qing dynastic families. It seamlessly connects the financial legacy of the Bund, the modernity of Lujiazui, the oriental charm of Yu Garden, and the chic ambiance of Xintiandi. Here, remnants of Yuan Dynasty waterfront docks blend with contemporary urban fabric, creating irreplaceable locational value.

Inheriting the historical legacy of a "scholarly gentry" enclave, Majestic Garden draws inspiration from traditional courtyard residences. Its architecture, led by Jiang Yu—renowned as the "pioneer of Chinese-style architecture" and "global leader in Chinese courtyard design"—establishes a new paradigm for heritage-infused living in downtown Shanghai. The design meticulously preserves the historic street fabric of Shanghai's Old Town while employing a pure courtyard layout to ensure modern privacy and flexibility. The 103 courtyard villas are organized into 10 clusters named after historical localities like "Da De Li" and "Yi Xing Li," perpetuating urban memory. Ranging from 210 to 500 sqm, these villas offer diverse spatial configurations that honor history while providing "one-home-one-customization" to meet contemporary needs.

The project incorporates 35 Shikumen-style gate heads, 44 facade elements, and 22 materials to recreate diverse architectural styles—including street-front shops and Jiangnan vernacular—transforming the community into a living museum of heritage architecture. Classic Shikumen "Wall-adjacent Access Gate" are replicated, with lintel plaques customizable to reflect homeowners' family heritage, thus perpetuating ancestral spirit.

Industry experts note Majestic Garden's uniqueness lies not only in its "city-center + pure courtyard" attributes but in the fusion of "non-renewable land + irreplicable heritage DNA." This DNA stems from the precinct's 700-year cultural sedimentation and the project's inheritance of its "scholarly gentry" legacy. Customization from form to detail revitalizes traditional elements, creating a blend of historical and contemporary value unlikely to be replicated in Shanghai.

Living Heritage: Integrating Intangible Culture into Shanghainese Style

A key challenge in urban renewal is moving "beyond tokenistic heritage preservation." As Shanghai's "first pure courtyard-style heritage community", Majestic Garden makes bespoke intangible cultural heritage (ICH) integration its core strength, transforming century-old Shanghainese architectural motifs into "lived experiences," offering an exemplary model for the industry.

Each of the 103 villas is a unique artwork, reflecting the project's deep deconstruction and modern reinterpretation of Shanghainese residential culture. In the show village, red-and-blue brick walls stand out. Moving beyond mere replication, Majestic Garden innovatively blends the 1920s Shanghai "Dutch bond" brickwork with the Chinese "plum blossom bond." Each single-layer fair-faced brick wall is meticulously laid by masons with over a decade of experience through five complex steps: brick selection, slurry immersion, guideline setting, mortar trimming, and seam grinding—revealing master craftsmanship upon touch.

Equally captivating are the "ingot-shaped seams" crafted using ICH techniques. Featuring uniform curvature and refined texture, these seams are filled with mortar mixed to a secret recipe by ICH artisans, then validated through the rainy season, summer sun exposure, and mercury-level calibration—achieving under 2mm tolerance per seam, with each taking two months to complete. Visitors marvel: "This isn't brickwork; it's exquisite art."

For pebble-dash walls, artisans' hand-select and size-match stones, applying seven processes including "triple washing and triple polishing" to ensure uniformity. Though labor-intensive, this technique preserves the patina of aged walls while adding weather resistance, durability, and eco-friendliness for climate resilience—harmonizing history and modernity.

Critically, techniques like ingot-shaped seams and pebble-dash originate from Shikumen alleyway construction methods, inscribed in 2011 on China's National ICH List. The executing craftsmen are Huangpu District's designated ICH inheritors. Their mastery ensures century-old Shanghainese style truly lives at Majestic Garden.

Shanghai's Evolution: From Preservation to Symbiosis

Shanghai's urban renewal has entered a "refined operation" phase. Majestic Garden transcends the binary of "replicating history" or "breaking from tradition," achieving historical-modern symbiosis through "creative transformation." This symbiosis extends beyond architecture and culture into landscape design, epitomized by the "Eight Scenes of Majestic Garden" conceived by master landscape architect Zhu Yufan and his team: Ocean Bloom, Garden of Letters, Cloud Poetry, Little Bridge End, Pavilion Bridge Street, Magnolia of Shanghai, Zhu Jia Ying and Oar-Resting Cove.

Each poetic name alludes to historical allusions. The team excavated eight distinct historical narratives or scenes embedded in the site, translating cultural heritage into contemporary design language that resonates with modern sensibilities while innovating Shanghainese culture. For instance, "Zhu Jia Shan Fang" draws from Ming scholar Dong Qichang's study, Zhu Jia Shan Fang, using jujube trees to echo Dong's own plantings; vine-covered pergolas symbolize enduring cultural transmission. "Magnolia of Shanghai" employs hand-cut, polished, and assembled "Emperor Black" natural stone to form magnolia patterns—Shanghai's city flower—juxtaposed with century-old magnolia trees, creating a dialogue across time.

This symbiotic philosophy permeates the entire project. Majestic Garden's 103 courtyards follow the traditional "one-house-one-garden" layout and preserve 53 original site components, forming an "urban DNA repository." Historical details are ingeniously woven into modern spaces: boundary stones from ancestral estate of the Zhang Clan become corner sculptures; carved motifs from Hu's Ink factory transform into stone screens—granting old artifacts new life. Existing street patterns are retained; the historic Nan Xiang Yun Ge structure was disassembled, moved, and integrated with modern functions, allowing the Old Town's "lived-in charm" to coexist with the new community's "refined quality."

Industry voices affirm Majestic Garden sets a new benchmark for Shanghai's luxury market, proving central low-density living can balance history and modernity. It offers a dual-practice model of "heritage preservation + living upgrade." Its "pure courtyard heritage in the city center" approach may catalyze an industry shift from "hardware accumulation" toward "cultural inheritance + quality living."

Global Unveiling and Market Anticipation

The Majestic Garden Show Village is now officially open, featuring a show flat by international design master Fu Hou Min, a 1,200 sqm exclusive clubhouse, and the "Eight Scenes" public landscape zone. Meticulously crafted over hundreds of days—from millimeter-precise ICH calibration to modern reinterpretations of historical fabric—the show village materializes the fusion of "historical context and contemporary life." Fu's spatial philosophy, the clubhouse's interplay of ICH and modern materials, and the immersive, step-by-step scenic experience deliver impact exceeding market expectations.

This pure courtyard project—combining "scarce city-center land, Shanghainese heritage DNA, and bespoke living"—will launch soon, with new Phase II show flats debuting simultaneously. As both leaders stated, it not only answers "how to build exceptional homes within historical context" but tangibly defines the future direction of premium living in Shanghai.

SOURCE Majestic Garden