As a longterm fan of Architecture, and being particularly keen on the Skyline format, I fell in love with this set when I first saw it, and now I have it built in front of me, it does look absolutely stunning. If you would care for a slightly more detailed analysis, read on...

Box & Instructions

Like all Architecture sets, the packaging here is absolutely glorious; it opens perfectly, without any damage, and it feels to be of fantastic quality all around. However, it comes with an extra tidbit which I haven't found in any of the other twenty-odd Architecture sets I've built: on top of the customary "Enjoy your building experience", an additional quote can be found, almost hidden from view, taken from The New Yorker humorist Patricia Marx - "New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Shanghai doesn't even sit down". The main contents, of course, are the many unnumbered bags and a 160-page perfect bound instruction book.

The Build

Like any Architecture set, the building experience is a key part of Shanghai, and this is one of the best such builds in an Architecture set I own. Every part of the build is parts-intensive, but complex in an exciting and satisfying way. No stage of the experience is mundane, from the relatively ordinary plate-based display base to the predominantly Technic Shanghai Tower. This fantastically built structure, defined by innovative use of flex-tubes, shows off some of the finest building techniques of recent years, while complex SNOT defines the superb look of the other three skyscrapers.

Parts

As you would expect for a set full of exotic buildings, a number of relatively rare recolours are to be found scattered throughout the set. Although only the printed name tile is strictly unique, a number of elements, most notably the green baseplates in the bed of the Huangpu River, the magenta discs in the Pearl Tower & a number of the medium blue plates and tiles in the Financial Center, are quite rare indeed. Many more types of piece, such as the 50 halfbeam curves in the Shanghai Tower and a number of tan pieces in the Pearl Tower and the Bund, are not common either.

The Completed Model

The final build looks mostly magnificent. The typical base, which looks as suitable as ever, is split in half by the green-tinged Huangpu River. Unlike in most cases, the arrangement of the buildings is a close replica of their places in real life - other than with the traditional temples on the far left, which are quite distant from the rest of the buildings in the real world, the arrangement is remarkably true to life.

The two temples on the far left - the Longhua Pagoda behind and the Chenghuang Miao Temple out front - are some of Shanghai's oldest and most visited structures, and they appear here in simple forms which are remarkably effective at showing the key details and colours. The larger and more famous structures next door are the HSBC Building and the Customs House, key features of the Huangpu's magnificent waterfront promenade known as the Bund, litttered with mighty Beaux Arts structures from Shanghai's first glory days. The HSBC Building is barely more complex than the adjacent temples, but still captures most of the building's defining features, while the Customs House, quite complex in comparison, does the same job. Some key details, particularly on the former's dome and the latter's clock tower, have had to be omitted due to the scale, which is a slight but unavoidable disappointment.

Even more impressive are the skyscrapers. The shortest and most obscure, behind the Customs House, is, to give it its full name, the Radisson Blu Hotel Shanghai New World. This structure uses six-way SNOT to create a close interpretation of the hotel's main body, while the interesting dome sat above uses almost no studs to create an almost perfect effect. These more complicated building techniques continue to be found on the other side of the Huangpu, firstly in possibly the model's most iconic structure, the Oriental Pearl Tower. This uses a number of interesting techniques, including quite a bit of upside-down construction, to create a decent impression of this complicated structure. All the details that could be captured properly are here, and most of them look close to perfect. Most of the subtle detail is missing, but for this scale, the look of the building is pretty much exceptional.

This idea of being "best at this scale" becomes much more pronounced - and detrimental - on the adjacent Shanghai World Financial Center. This is rapidly becoming one of the most famous works of modern architecture in the world, and the model would be incomplete without it, but its signature curves and colour were always going to be hard to model in Lego. That being said, this rendition is excellent, with the general shape of these curves and the iconic aperture at the top being captured as well as the designer probably could. The colour also leaves something to be desired, but it is also probably the best existing solution.

None of these quibbles are to be had with the Shanghai Tower, the newest and tallest part of Shanghai's skyline, and arguably the second-tallest building in the world. The usage of a Technic core surrounded with halfbeam curves held in shape with flex-tubes has created a nigh-on perfect rendition of the tower's remarkable twist. This is, for me, one of the finest structures to have appeared in a Skyline set, a true showpiece of superb building techniques, a goldmine for a pretty rare part, and a spectacular climax for this set.

Verdict

This is a highlight of my Architecture collection, and I would recommend it to any good fan of the theme or the city. The spectacular building experience yields results which, given the limitations of System, are absolutely outstanding. I might even go as far to say that the Shanghai Tower doesn't even look like Lego, which in this case should be taken as a ridiculously high accolade.

As a native Shanghainese, I have to say it might be one of the worst lego skylines ever made.

Maybe it is not lego's fault, since this city has a badly planned skyline feature, not like Chicago or Paris. Shanghai's rapid expansion speed does not allow a carefully designed urban planning. As a result, high-rises often do not contribute to the integrity of the city and share less sense of connection with each other nor with the traditional ones.

This lacking integrity might well be reflected in the set, that those selected buildings are awkwardly placed against each other. They look even worse when aligned in such a linear order. Not to mention the ugly colour-scheme, when the blue minimal block form is immediately placed next to the red TV tower, a strange contrast in both form and colour.

In reality, recognised by many architects/designers, this TV tower is probably one of the ugliest structures in the history of the contemporary Chinese architecture. Though here in this set, the legolization does a pretty good job.

Same as above, all other buildings in this set are nice replica and look good if treated individually. Just that when they are put together, it does not feel right.

I lived for 10+ years in downtown Shanghai where many of the buildings in this set are next to my home. So I appreciate lego made this set, yet really hope they could be much better. As a royal fan of lego contemporary architecture and skyline series who was born in Shanghai, it is truly a big disappointment.