Session 4 - November 3

[cgao]

Colonialism and its Legacies - From Macau to the Shanghai Bund 

 

 

Required reading

• European Architecture in Asia, by Bret Wallach

 

Redefining Western Modernism - Tokyo, Pudong & the Hong Kong  High-Rise City

 

 

Required reading

• The Western Genome in Japanese Architecture, by Vinayak Bharne

 

[Philip Bramble]

I was quite fortunate to go to Shanghai three times: 1994, 1995-1996 (when I worked there for half a year), and 1997.  The last time I went there, I was stunned at the rapid pace of development; I couldn't believe how much had changed in just 18 months.  My friends in Shanghai commiserated with me; one of them said, "Hey, I live here and I can't keep up with the changes, either."  And that was at a time when there was one subway line.  Now the subway map looks like a plate of spaghetti.
Here are two photos that might help you grasp the scale of change.  I took the first one in '94 from a pedestrian bridge that straddled an intersection, and off to one side I could see the furious pace of development.  When I went back in '95 I found myself crossing a pedestrian bridge, and off to one side there was a beautiful green park with a paved road and a marble museum, so I took a photo of it.  It wasn't until much later that I started wondering whether I'd been there before.  Then I suddenly realized I'd taken both photos from the exact same location -- when I put the two photos side by side, it was mind-blowing to see how quickly things had changed.

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[Betsy Telle]

Thank you for sharing your pictures. What a truly remarkable difference in a year. It is fascinating how quickly cities in China explode in size. Looking at the maps of the growth presented in the slides, I imagine it would be like going to a brand new city for you to visit now, despite your 6+ months of being there before.

[Elizabeth Rosales]

I believe that shifting our paradigms is an indication of maturity and growth. I like your idea of shifting the 'colonialism' paradigm from one of blame to one of positivity. It reminds me of my favorite quote that "the last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances." Since all of the people who colonized are long gone, we can either choose to continue to be angry about what they did, or be grateful for the good things that came out of it. What is done cannot be undone, so we may as well look for the good and also never forget the lessons. I, for one, find things that I love everywhere I go, and I want to incorporate them into my life. The more I travel, the more I see, and the more people I talk to and learn from. If we keep an open mind, we can take the seeds of wisdom from one place and deposit them in another. Like what you said about Christians and Hindus living next to each other and enriching each other's lives. 

Superb point, also, about using the materials native to the area, even if the ideas aren't. We do the same thing in reverse. We bring home ideas from places we have visited and admired, and incorporate them as best we can with what we've got. One of the things I brought home with me from India was a new love of color. The clothing and the buildings and the markets and the rugs, everything, was so colorful. It made me happy and I now have a much more colorful home and wardrobe. 

[Betsy Telle]

I was surprised by the amount of influence European architecture has had on architecture in Asia. I have been to Tokyo a few times and did notice or was not aware of effect of Westernization on the buildings. I suppose when you are used to something you don’t notice yet, even in places it should not be. However, the pictures in the presentation and the reading make the influence very obvious.

 

I think that this would be a good discussion topic with students. They could discuss what they would use from other cultures. Other aspect is to compare Japan’s westernization versus China’s colonization and how they both led to architecture that was influenced by Europe.

[Elizabeth Rosales]

Pudong...I remember when I saw the current version of Pudong in a movie. I asked where it was, and the answer was Shanghai. I was shocked. I had stayed in Shanghai and traveled on a boat up the river, and the shiny, glittering, neon city I saw in that movie was nothing like what I remembered. It was hard to internalize that the place of my memories no longer existed. I am glad to see that some of it was preserved on the opposite bank of the Yangtze. But then, those buildings were once new, too, and I am sure that many mourned the loss of the beautiful land on which they were built. 

So, how do we maintain the balance between buildings and open space? How do we preserve irreplaceable natural areas? This is one of the problems California is facing, in terms of water. We used to have many streams and rivers that came down out of the snow pack, and the valleys were fertile, but with some years drier than others. Then people started diverting those waters into pipes and lakes, and that changed the landscape. My understanding is that our former governor put into law that within about 20 years, it will be illegal to drill a well, so that the water table will not be depleted and the land sink down, in a very small nutshell.

Urban planning seems to be an undertaking of vast, nearly impossible, proportions. I don't know how you do it!

[Thomas Pineda]

In response to this perspective, and the videos, that colonialism is subjective- it still sits weird with me from a social justice perspective. Having very little experience teaching architecture or history, I am definitely not in the best position to talk about this. But if we look at the products of colonization, we see buildings, monuments, meldings of cultures and the end results which we can enjoy. Would I think my students would understand them better or appreciate them more if we knew about the native history of a place? Most likely they would, and they would have a clearer picture of the resiliency of the native culture in place and how it managed to survive, or not survive, the influence of colonization. I suppose, rather than explaining the history from a place of anger or blame, there is an apsect of accountability that is ignored in just painting it all in positivity- as you said, "never forget the lessons."

[Thomas Pineda]

Having visited and lived in some of these megapolises such as Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul and Shanghai, the argument that the future of urbanity is something between Pudong and Puxi seemed very apparent in those cities. These cities are filled with steel and glass highrises on top of subterranean shopping centers connected with efficient railways. You can step into one of those complexes and be able to have a sauna, eat, watch a movie or play games, party and sing karaoke and then sleep all on separate floors of the same place. Then further away from these bustling Shibuya Crossings and Causeway Bays, you can take a subway to a remote mountain like Bukhansan that rises above the Blue House or royal palaces. The development of these Asian cities eclipses the kind of urban growth we see here in the US. However, living a life fully encapsulated in an urban environment would sound terrible, and a sustainable model that balances humanity, urbanity and the natural landscape around it is hopefully something we see more of in the future.

[Ingrid Herskind]

I was really curious about the remarks from the first video on the Bund in Shanghai. The juxtapostion of the Pudong District with the modern skyscrapers and innovative construction vs. the Huangpu District and its international feel. When travelling on the Huangpu River, the eastern and western banks are so unique and diverse--showing the remarkable growth and determination of Shanghai. I had the chance to view the Bund area via river boat in the summer of 2019 and was transfixed by the city lights and imaginative buildings on the Pudong side. My Shanghai friends said that the growth and development have been non-stop and have eclipsed many other Asian cities. I'd like to learn more about the problem of the Pudong being overbuilt on the silt bed.

[Ingrid Herskind]

I am also interested in the urban planning and development in cities like Shanghai, Xian, and Beijing. The lack of open space is a serious issue in many major cities--and if Shanghai continues to develop on pace, any attempt at open space might be a distant memory. I liked your comment about the access of water in California, too. I think about this often as an Angeleno and wonder about the origins of Los Angeles and the diversion of water from the Owens Valley so many years ago. 

[Jennifer Lee]

I found the integration between East and West architecture very intriguing. I understood why architects were imported during colonial periods, but  I found it interesting that many Eastern Asian countries still use foreign architects. I was curious if this was because of they want to use Starchitects or they feel that foreign architects are better?  I would think that local architects would be able to have a better understanding of the area and create a design that would have a smaller impact on the environment. 

[Jennifer Lee]

Elizabeth,

I liked your comments about the colonialism paradigm. The lectures and readings made me think about what is happening with the missions and Junipero Serra right now. On an architecture level the missions are very important buildings, but on a human level Serra and others did terrible things to the indigenous peoples. 

[Jennifer Lee]

I think a fun way to introduce this is would be to show the clips and images from Big Hero 6.  Where they filmakers imagined Tokyo and San Francisco fusing together into San Fransokyo

https://gizmodo.com/a-tour-of-san-fransokyo-the-hybrid-city-disney-built-f-1642066794

[Ping Pian]

Thank you for sharing your photos. I was in Shanghai from 1995-1997 and left July 1, 1997, the day Hong Kong was handed over. Looking at your pictures brought back a lot of memories. I was told that Shanghai then has 17% of the construction cranes in the world. I do not know if that figure is correct, just remembering all the cranes I saw everywhere I looked. Quote one number from a government official: "Shanghai uses 100K tons of construction materials every 24 hours."

[Kimberly de Berzunza]

Thomas, I had a similar reaction. Like I get it, and I appreciate and enjoy the fusion of cultures and the mixing of ideas, the give-and-take of styles and materials, but I still have sense that it IS, in fact, mostly one-way... or at least it's not an equal exchange.  I wrote in my notes "Imposition of government in exchange for taking of art, cultures, etc... both negative."  It still looks to me like colonists arrive, take the materials from the land they are stealing, and use them to build in their own style for their own comfort and enjoyment, without an appreciation for the traditions of the land where they've chosen to live.  It's a bit different where leaders invite western architects to come design their new building, because then they are indicating they want it (though I still question how much is genuine and how much is the sense given them by the West that it's somehow superior,) but where no choice was given, it is uncomfortable to me.

I do, however, feel that the mixture of cultures and traditions is or can be a positive consequence of colonialism. I am generally interested in things that seem out of place or odd, so European-style buildings in non-European places are fascinating to me, but kind of in the same way I find Las Vegas both fascinating and repulsive with its giant wasteful hotels and fountains in the middle of the desert...

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