Bachelor's Thesis

Fall 2021 - Spring 2022

Reimagining & Reconstructing 1920's Shanghai in 2020:
The Preservation of Wukang Mansion
in the Former French Concession

This thesis unpacks the most recent preservation program (2005-2019) at Wukang Mansion in Shanghai’s former French Concession and city center and illustrates the program frames Wukang Mansion into a collective reimagination and reconstruction of a cosmopolitanism ideal rooted in early 20th century Shanghai. Currently at Wukang Mansion and Wukang Road area, we see that later emerged modern elements were cast onto the neoclassical pre-1930s mansion and incorporated into the preservation program to recreate the 1930s cosmopolitan Shanghai. By referring to a variety of sources from oral history of the residents to planners’ journal article and anchoring theories in science and technology studies on architectural studies, this thesis critically analyzes how modern Art Deco visual style emerged in 1930s induced the contemporary cosmopolitan ideal in the 21st century, among both the general outside tourists and three groups of actors (i.e., residents, planners, and investors) in the preservation program. Their actions in utilizing different means of science and technology available to realize their diverging versions of the ideal forms interesting interactions and compromises. With their collective effort, Wukang Mansion is empowered as a time machine for the audience to travel back into a reimagined 1930s “old Shanghai.” In alignment, the most recent commercial projects in the area are masked in a cosmopolitan look and curated for the outside tourists. Using Wukang Mansion and Wukang Road as an example, the thesis ends with a timely discussion of the impact of COVID-19 and the emergence of social media on domestic historical tourism in Shanghai.

Chapter Breakdown:

Introduction: Estranged in the Cosmopolis
 Establishing Foreign Settlements and External Roads
 Chapter Outline: Reimagination and Estrangement

Chapter I: Hudec’s I.S.S. Apartment, Shanghai’s Wukang Mansion
 Laszlo Hudec: The Chameleon Architect In Shanghai
 Wukang Mansion’s Designt

Chapter II: Constructing Cosmopolitanism: Power and Curse of Art Deco
 Art Deco & Shanghai’s Cosmopolitanism
 “Modeng Nülang (Modern Ladies)” & Chinese Art Deco
 Architecture, Hyperreality & Cosmopolitanism

Chapter III: (Re)constructing Wukang Mansion: Place Memory in Contemporary Cosmopolitan
 Assembling a Time Machine: Restoration, Repair, Preservation
 Fabrication of Readable Architecture in Walkable Neighborhoods

Chapter IV: Commodification of Cosmopolitanism & Impact of Tourism: Case of Ferguson Lane, COVID-19, & Social Media