MORE than 100 historic photographs of Shanghai’s landmark buildings were released yesterday for the first time.

Shanghai Urban Construction Archives launched the photo exhibition at the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall. It will run until July 16.

Part of the collection was donated by Zhao Tianzuo, the former deputy chief engineer with Shanghai Planning, Land and Resources Administration, who either took or collected the photos. They reveal how the city’s landmarks such as old downtown, Xujiahui, People’s Square and Hongqiao areas have developed over the past three decades.

The photos are being exhibited with snaps of landmarks recently taken from the same angles to show the changes that have occurred. The photos will also be exhibited in a tour of communities and schools.

A panoramic photo showing the Bund and Lujiazui area on both sides of Huangpu River in the early 1990s, shows there are still many surviving factory buildings and low residential houses in the Lujiazui area.

Another historic photo shows the construction process of the iconic Oriental Pearl Tower, built in 1994. In the photo, the foot of the TV tower is still wrapped with scaffolding as a crane works on the body of the tower.

Another photograph — of Shanghai Great World, also known as the Dashijie in downtown Huangpu District — taken in the 1980s shows it looked almost the same as it does now. It was officially reopened to public in March after being renovated to restore its original look.

The rest of the publicized archives tells the story of the Bund over the past century. They include maps, photos and design charts about buildings on the street since 1855.

Some documents being exhibited also showcase the architectural styles, designs and building techniques of these structures.

The exhibition shows how Bund buildings initially appeared in the late 19th century as brick and wooden structures. The only remaining structures from the period are the former British consulate built in 1873 and the former Commercial Bank of China building.

The photos from 1901 to 1920 show how many original buildings on the Bund were reconstructed with the development of the foreign concessions. Most of the buildings in the street were built during the “golden era” from 1921 through 1949.

The average height of the Bund buildings grew to eight stories from single story within a century, while the width of the road, now called No. 1 Zhongshan Road E., grew to 60 meters from 8.3 meters, according to the archives.