- yesterday
The documentary L. E. Hudec tells the life story of this European architect. As well as offering a fresh perspective on how people from diverse ethnic groups and cultures in Shanghai bridged the gaps between them, achieved mutual success, and created iconic works using new technologies during the interwar period, it also conveys an enduring message: "Civilizations thrive and become richer through exchange and mutual learning. "
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Thank you for listening.
03:11Gisela's mother was also born in Shanghai.
03:14This is a nice photograph showing my grandparents' wedding, my grandmother's grandmother, my grandmother, my grandfather, Laszlo Hudeck,
03:44so it's daughter, mother, and grandmother.
03:49In the summer of 1922, Hudeck married Gisela, and a year later, they welcomed their first child, Martin, to the world.
04:01These medallions that my grandfather had struck, one of himself and one of my grandmother, this was a recognition when she was very, very ill and she almost died, and he was very happy that she recovered.
04:14As it turned out, Hudeck and Gisela were to spend 36 years together, their marriage lasting until his death in 1958.
04:23Forty-five years later, Gisela passed away in Victoria, Canada at the age of 102.
04:29We already, as children, when we visited my grandmother's house, we saw all the Chinese things.
04:35I think that she looked back on her days in Shanghai fondly.
04:39She was very proud of him because, of course, he had achieved a lot in the name Hudeck.
04:45Hudeck and Gisela honeymooned in Beijing and briefly considered settling down there due to its dry climate, which resembled Hudeck's hometown.
05:06But ultimately, they decided to stay on in Shanghai.
05:09In 1998, Hua Xia Hong, while pursuing a master's degree at Tongji University, began researching Hudeck at the suggestion of her advisor, Professor Zheng Shiling.
05:32The Shanghai Urban Construction Archive houses nearly 1,400,000 volumes of archives about urban construction in Shanghai since the latter half of the 19th century.
06:01In her pursuit of data, Hua Xia Hong hand-drew numerous sketches based on these archival documents.
06:20In the 1920s, Shanghai embarked on another period of development.
06:25This bolstered the prosperity of R.A. Curry even more.
06:28Our office became the busiest in Shanghai.
06:34Several of our proposals have won bids for projects.
06:38The most intriguing design was for the eight-storey Shanghai American Club building.
06:43When the thriving American expatriate community decided to construct a clubhouse, R.A. Curry Architect, Shanghai's first American architectural firm, was the obvious choice for the project.
07:00The New England style.
07:01The New England style is an early American architectural style.
07:03The New England style is an early American architectural style.
07:07However, the brown bricks and white marble decoration used for the American club may have been designed by Hudeck.
07:14I think that are typical Hudeck features.
07:35So, maybe that was the beginning of his reputation.
07:42At the University of Victoria's MacPherson Library in Canada, there's a volume of archives titled Laszlo Hudeck, donated by his family in the early 1990s.
07:58Lenore Heertkamp was the first scholar to make these archives the focus of her research.
08:05This architect, once renowned throughout East Asia, captivated her.
08:11How is this?
08:15But after four years as a partner with R.A. Curry, Hudeck was getting itchy feet.
08:22Time for him to venture out on his own.
08:25On January 13, 1925, in the China press, Hudeck announced the opening of his own firm.
08:35On the same page, Roland Curry also declared that Hudeck was no longer a partner architect at R.A. Curry.
08:45Hudeck.
08:48Hudeck obtained a loan from his father-in-law, Karl Theodore Meyer,
08:52and established his architectural firm within the Yokohama Specie Bank building,
08:57which had just been completed by Palmer and Turner Architects and Surveyors.
09:05Palmer and Turner Architects and Surveyors was the largest and strongest architectural firm in modern Shanghai.
09:12In the 1920s, eleven buildings were demolished and rebuilt on the bend,
09:17seven of which were designed and constructed by Palmer and Turner Architects and Surveyors.
09:23It was about 75,000 shanghai dollars, which must have been a considerable amount of money.
09:26But he, in his office or his business, did so well that within a five-year period,
09:30he was able to pay that debt back.
09:53Country Hospital has long been considered the first project undertaken by Hudeck's firm.
10:05But the architectural drawings preserved in the Shanghai urban construction archives
10:11show that the earliest plans were signed by Hudeck and submitted by R.A. Curry Architect.
10:17We lack details on how the two architects ended their collaboration,
10:22and there's little information available concerning Roland Curry's life thereafter.
10:29Like many foreign architects in Shanghai at the time,
10:32Roland Curry enriched the city's charm, but left without leaving any trace.
10:37Nevertheless, the years working for R.A. Curry were an important starting point
10:43as far as Hudeck's career was concerned.
10:46But it was still a little bit of professional.
10:49One of the things that we developed in our own business,
10:52and we developed in our own business,
10:54and we developed in our own business,
10:56and we developed in our own business.
10:58And the second thing,
11:00we developed in our own business,
11:02and we developed in our own business.
11:04We developed in our own business,
11:06and we developed in our own business,
11:07and we developed in our own business,
11:08and we developed in our own business.
11:13Hudeck designed an H-shaped building for country hospital,
11:17featuring corridors connecting various functional areas
11:21such as consulting rooms, operating rooms, and wards.
11:27Sunlight aids recovery, so all wards face south.
11:31Yet, to combat Shanghai's hot and humid summers,
11:37Hudeck designed loggias for 60% of the wards
11:41to prevent direct sunlight from entering the rooms.
11:45This percentage was based on a statistic
11:48that hospital ward occupancy rates during Shanghai's summers
11:52were around 60%.
11:54It was a consequence, not of stylistical ideas,
12:03or conception, or decorations,
12:05or whatever kind of tradition.
12:08That project is the modern approach
12:10that the Laszlo Hudeck had,
12:12based on scientific consideration,
12:15based on statistic consideration.
12:18Each ward in country hospital boasted its own bathroom,
12:28an extreme luxury for the time.
12:31All primary rooms were outfitted with central air conditioning,
12:35just two years after its global debut in public buildings.
12:39Even the opulent lobby, despite its stark contrast
12:48with the hospital's modest facade,
12:50was designed so as to evoke a sense of home for patients.
12:55But everything was done with functionality in mind,
12:59one reason for the costliness of country hospital.
13:02However, this was not an issue as the best was precisely what the owner required.
13:09The project of the country hospital is a very beautiful story.
13:13This young architect got to know a very, very rich American businessman
13:20who was about to leave Shanghai,
13:23but he wanted to leave a wonderful gift to the city of Shanghai,
13:28to the city that made him rich, super rich.
13:32The British businessman Charles Rayner and his wife
13:35anonymously donated and heavily invested in country hospital.
13:39Their aim was for the hospital to serve Shanghai's foreign community impartially,
13:45regardless of identity or nationality.
13:481926, see, already in 1926, he was well known.
13:52It really is, yeah, yeah.
13:54Three years later, country hospital was built,
13:57in 1926, it was up and running and treating patients.
14:02Country hospital garnered attention,
14:04not only from local Shanghai newspapers,
14:07but also from the renowned American professional journal,
14:11Architectural Forum.
14:13This marked the first time the journal had featured architecture outside the US.
14:19Hudek and his firm were swiftly rising to prominence in Shanghai.
14:23It was these reports on country hospital that prompted Professor Sraml Zoltan of Budapest University of Technology and Economics in Hungary to take an interest in Hudek.
14:38It is interesting because when I studied here, we didn't know anything about him and we didn't learn at all about him.
14:46After the 90s, when the connection to the international history of architecture became more and more interesting for all people,
14:57then we learned how important role he played, for example, in the architecture of Shanghai.
15:05Shraml Zoltan is a great admirer of Hudek's design for country hospital.
15:10He attributes its success to the teaching tradition of the Faculty of Architecture at Budapest University of Technology and Economics.
15:19We are in a technical university, so that means architecture is a kind of art,
15:25but with the technology together it's called architectural engineering.
15:31And that was always a strength of our education,
15:36that not only the artistic elements were educated here,
15:42but also a sense for engineering knowledge and structures and materials and physical elements.
15:51In the 1920s, Shanghai's market for Western-style construction was dominated by major architectural firms
16:03like Palmer and Turner Architects and Surveyors,
16:06as well as Atkinson and Dallas Architects and Civil Engineers Limited.
16:12But despite being well known in East Asia, Hudek still needed to actively expand his client base.
16:18Therefore, when the Chinese Capital Joint Savings Society decided to publicly tender for the construction of its union building,
16:27Hudek seized the opportunity.
16:30He was smart enough to design a building that did not look like American or French or British banks.
16:39Drawing inspiration from his hometown memories,
16:47Hudek infused the Joint Savings Society's building with corner towers,
16:52varied geometric windows and luxurious white marble cladding,
16:57departing from traditional English and American design patterns to introduce an exotic style.
17:03And its opulent interior space rivaled that of any foreign bank in Shanghai.
17:12Huyudek demonstrated both a clear understanding of the needs of Chinese clients and the style of Shanghai.
17:37of Shanghai. He understood the emerging Chinese capitals need for a distinct expression in
17:44public space.
17:45I think that the J.E.S.S. Bank building was the turning point of his career.
18:14But just as construction of the Joint Savings Society's union building was getting started,
18:27UDEC received another commission from a Chinese client. This commission was a birthday gift
18:33for Chen Dingzhen, wife of Shanghai industrialist Liu Jisheng, who, along with his brother Liu
18:39Hongsheng, founded one of China's top modern national enterprises. It's said that UDEC specially
18:50commissioned a statue of Psyche in Italy for the garden, presenting it to Liu Jisheng
18:55and Chen Dingzhen. Decades later, this place became known as Love Garden.
19:06The second place of the Second World Foundation was founded in the 50th century.
19:13The second place in the 50th century, the first place in the 50th century,
19:18the first place in the 50th century, the first place in the 60th century.
19:23In the 1990s, writer Ye Xin led the renovation of the Shanghai Writers' Association Office.
19:53We just need to clean it up and clean it up and clean it up.
20:08The玻璃窗 is a玻璃. It's not a玻璃.
20:13I said that it's not a玻璃.
20:15I've been able to clean it up and clean it up and clean it up.
20:19It's called Tom King.
20:22Even at its most dilapidated, it was still possible to admire its exquisite design and period charm.
20:29In 2023, Liu Jisheng's former residence underwent another round of renovations.
20:36The high society of Chinese city at that time needed to have a new language,
20:43something yet unseen, something not yet done, not yet visible in Shanghai.
20:49The scope of my work was broad, serving both members of the international diaspora community
20:57and members of the Chinese government, which came to power in 1927.
21:02In 1927, the nationalist government in Nanjing designated Shanghai a special city
21:09and enacted the Greater Shanghai Plan, aimed at planning and developing a new area in Shanghai outside the concessions.
21:18According to recently discovered documents, Hu Dek also participated in the bidding for the Greater Shanghai Plan.
21:26And the members of the Chinese government mentioned by Hu Dek included Sun Ke, the son of Sun Yat-sen, a great patriot.
21:34In 1928, Sun Ke was appointed Minister of Railways and President of Jiao Tong University.
21:41Upon taking office, he initiated the university's expansion and development.
21:46Sun Ke not only engaged Hu Dek for the overall expansion planning, but also assigned him two crucial projects,
21:54the engineering building and the ironwork and woodwork factory.
21:59The engineering building of Jiao Tong University not only housed the most advanced laboratories
22:18and engineering teaching facilities in Shanghai and the entire country at the time,
22:23but also stood as the epitome of modern architecture itself.
22:27Sun Ke no loro
22:45On the side of the door, you can see things on the side of the door.
22:50This is also a special feature of art.
22:53But the big door of the door is also made as a wooden door.
22:57Especially in the front of the door. It's a bit like a guitar.
23:01It doesn't fit into a very simple style.
23:04It's a bit of a different style.
23:07But Hudek's design also took into account
23:10Jiao Tong University's financial and economic status.
23:14Based on the existing structures, he designed a two-storey engineering building.
23:19However, construction adhered to three-storey standards,
23:22enabling the addition of another floor
23:25when university finances permitted in the future.
23:28The thing, he was formed to be able to draw in any style,
23:33using any kind of architectural language.
23:36That's the kind of education, architectural formation that he had.
23:41He was much more like a tailor than an artist that wants to say,
23:46OK, this is my style.
23:48It's my style.
23:49In 2003, Luca Poncellini, a student of architectural history at the Polytechnic University of Milan in Italy,
24:07arrived in Shanghai to seek inspiration for his doctoral dissertation.
24:12But despite his profound interest, his knowledge of Chinese historical architecture remained limited.
24:19I just knew one single name.
24:22That was the name of Professor Zheng Shilin.
24:25And I knew that he was a professor at Tongji University.
24:28So I went there.
24:29I only met one guard.
24:31And he was looking at me like,
24:33what are you doing here in the middle of August?
24:36And so I said, Professor Zheng Shilin?
24:38I just said his name.
24:40So he said one moment.
24:42He made a phone call.
24:43Then he passed me the phone.
24:44And on the phone, there was Professor Zheng Shilin speaking Italian to me.
24:49Let's welcome to the next one.
24:51The most exciting thing to welcome the senior university of the National Science Institute of Science,
24:55the National Science Institute of Science Institute of Science,
24:57the National Science Institute of Science Institute of Science Institute of Science.
24:59Is this a great introduction.
25:01Is this your understanding?
25:02Thanks.
25:11Ooh socialism and
25:27I think we can't do this.
25:30There are many materials in Europe that can be found.
25:37At Zheng Shilin's suggestion, Luca Poncellini began researching Hudek.
25:42He spent three years tracing Hudek's footsteps across Europe, the Americas, and Shanghai in China,
25:49not only meeting Hudek's three children, but also visiting Hudek's relatives in Europe.
25:57We discovered in an old wardrobe a small metal box
26:07that would contain all these correspondence from Laszlo Hudek's to his family.
26:12I feel like I'm here, I'm here in the 2000s,
26:16and the 1920s, the 1930s of the century is here in my hand.
26:21And this has been very relaxed for me.
26:24And I also felt that we can see a human life here,
26:31and there are such documents and themes that they didn't know yet.
26:38These collections not only provided rich materials for Luca's research,
26:42but also laid the groundwork for the Hudek Cultural Foundation in Hungary today.
26:49Now, Hudek's name has become almost synonymous with Shanghai's modern architectural culture,
26:56an outcome closely linked to the academic endeavors of several generations of scholars, both local and international.
27:04More importantly, Hudek's legacy is to be found in more than 100 individual buildings scattered throughout Shanghai's old city area.
27:16In the Western history, it's hard to find a person who lives in the world.
27:18It's difficult to find such a person.
27:19It's difficult to find such a space for the country that built in the building in the building,
27:23and the building of the building, and the building of the building,
27:26such as there aren't any buildings to grow.
27:28But if we would have had some of these paintings in the building,
27:29If we had several different works of Udaqa,
27:33it would be like this.
27:45Outside the gate of IUAV, University of Venice,
27:49Hua Xiaong often strolls with fellow students
27:52during her study visits.
27:54Carved on the school's gate is a Latin proverb that means
27:57truth is realized through practice.
28:05For Hua Xiaong, these words more than fittingly sum up
28:09Hudeq's life in architecture and the rich legacy he has left behind.
28:27Para Manic ollwak, the
28:55PYM JBZ
29:25Milano, Milano, Milano.
29:55Milano.
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