Category: visual analysis #1

Xu Xiaoyan is an eco-feminsit, who specializes in oil paintings of landscapes. These landscapes typically show the earth being destroyed or polluted by the urbanization of China. Through her eco-feminist lens, the goal of these paintings are to highlight how urbanization is damaging mother nature, which she believes is symbolic of feminity and female identity. In these paintings, the way in which she exemplifies how urbanization is harming the earth and also female identity is through her use of the female anatomy within the paintings and her use of color. 

The use of female anatomy within the picture allows the viewer to clearly see the connection between the earth and femininity thus highlighting how man made urbanization is destroying it. In her painting Body of the Earth, the focal point of the picture is “a conspicious vaginal shaped hole” (156). This hole is being invaded and destroyed by the debris left behind from construction. This symbolizes how man made structures and Chinese urbanization are encroaching and destroying the female identity within China, as well as harming the earth. The action of the hole being invaded and destroyed shows how urbanization is harming the environment as well as invading upon female progress and masking female identity.(try not to repeat what you have already expressed)

In another one of her paintings in the foreground there is a river that is heavily polluted and in the background there are skyscrapers. Again, the river is painted in a way to resemble the female anatomy. The fact that this river is polluted conveys the same message as the last painting, that female identity is being harmed, invaded, and suppressed through these man made structures, which the skyscrapers in the background represent. (make a connection between mother nature and female body. in so doing, there would be more comments that could be made)

Body of Earth

In these two paintings she also uses color to portray the destruction of the earth and female identity. In the painting Body of Earth, she contrast the colors in the foreground and background to highlight this. In the foreground, where the hole is being invaded and polluted, she uses very harsh, dark colors. These colors are dark reds and browns to symbolize blood and destruction of the earth and the female. She wants the viewers to see that the construction from urbanization is physically harming the earth and the female. While in the back, where the landscape is untouched, she uses softer colors like greens and yellows, that symbolize the nurturing qualities of the earth and femininity. She uses these soft colors to highlight the beauty and femininity of the untouched landscape. Through these soft colors she tries to convey a feeling of safety and attractiveness to this version of the earth and compel the viewer to try and preserve the earth and femininity rather than destroy it. 

In the second painting, she paints the foreground, which is the polluted river, in very dark  harsh colors again like browns and blues. She does this to highlight how bad the pollution is and how urbanization has stripped mother nature of its femine and nurturing qualities. In the background, which is the skyscraper, she paints the buildings and sky with light and dark grays. She uses these greys in order to devalue the skyscrapers and convey the gloomy and destructiveness that urbanization causes to the earth. She does not want to glorify this urbanization in any way so she chose to paint them in the greys to make urbanization seem negative. 

Throughout Xu Xiaoyan’s artworks she tries to convey to the viewer that the current state of Urbanization in China is harmful to mother nature and female identity. Being a eco-feminist causes her to view the enviroment and feminity as connected and symbolic of one another. Therefore, in her paintings she tries to represent that ideology artistically through creating pieces that have elements that resemble the female anatomy. After, she has visually established the connection between the environment and femininity in her painting, she then highlights the destruction of the two that urbanization is causing. She also uses the colors within the painting to highlight this pollution and destruction of the earth and femininity to drive home this message to the viewer. 

 

China’s modernization can be boldly compared to a revolution. This revolution is far from a grassroots one; instead, the development narrative, as told through many cities within China’s borders, document a top-down story. The nature of this city-wide modernization coincides with the erasure of both marginalized populations and traditional life. Previous discussions of village-in-the-city landscapes have described quite well the plight of migrant workers throughout China’s Pearl River Delta. Now, the focus rests on the erasure of China’s traditional roots. In “Cement Dragon”, a sculpture installation from Yang Yongliang, the reality of China’s traditional disappearance is salient. The artist, Yongliang, emphasizes that the rapid progression of the city-scape has, to a far extent, begun erasing China’s traditional roots.

“Cement Dragon” Yang Yongliang

The dragon in Chinese culture has persisted through time as a symbol of power and strength. Yongliang’s incorporation of this symbol as the main focal point of his sculpture allows for the viewer to first understand the significance of the piece. Above, we first see a Chinese dragon bursting through a cement wall. The delicate balance Yongliang strikes between a provocative foreground, the dragon, and a neutral background, the cement wall, persists as one of the core ideas of the piece. While the dragon symbolizes tradition, the wall symbolizes modern China and its built landscape. With the dragon, quite literally, breaking free from this wall, we may be able to interpret this as a way of the traditional trying to escape the modern; this idea, though, is ill-fated due to the dismal appearance of the dragon itself.

“Cement Dragon” by Yang Yongliang

This sculpture’s physical construction further echoes the contrast between traditional and modern; in some sense, it seems to shut away China’s tradition-rich past for the sake of bleak modernity. Overall, this piece is constructed entirely from cement, bricks, and steel bars(material) These elements are fundamental components of modern skyscrapers, alluding to the modern built Chinese landscape. Interestingly, we see not only the cement wall in the background clearly constructed from these elements, but we also see that the traditional Chinese dragon is, too. In fact, it appears that the dragon has a shaggy physicality due to the cement. Boldly, the dragon is cloaked in cement; the cloaking of such is far beyond the dragon’s wants. We can assert that the unkept nature of the dragon’s appearance suggests that traditional China is being overwhelmed and fully consumed by the modern built landscape.

“Cement Dragon” by Yang Yongliang

            “Cement Dragon” is an attempt to critique the loss of tradition in the modern Chinese landscape. This erasure of traditional China has been driven largely by government regimes and large corporations. This piece begs us to ask who is making city development decisions? Maurizio Marinelli’s “Urban revolution and Chinese contemporary art: A total revolution of the senses” asserts that much of city development reflects the ideas and goals of a Chinese minority – those who can afford to make such decisions. In some sense, as Marinelli also describes, this revolution in the Chinese city-scape is similar to mid-20^th century China during Mao’s era. In Yongliang’s piece, the cement dragon seems to be cognizant of this dismal revolution. It looks reluctant and quite scared to be succumbing to the revolution. On its face, we see a blank stare with furrowed eyebrows. Its mouth is open. Combined, the dragon seems to have paused mid-gasp, suggesting a hesitation to fully embody its traditional powerful nature. The process of modernity has completely dominated the dragon, far beyond the creature’s ability to counteract it. (the connection between the dragon and revolution)

Chen Qiulin’s photograph, Twilight, is a piece of performance art that displays the photographer’s discomfort with the decayed environment. To support her claim, Chen Qiulin focuses on the eroding surroundings and destroyed landscape. She illustrates both concepts through the composition of the traditional and modern figures and their points of view. (revision and editing have made the paragraph sound clear and beautiful!)

Focusing on urbanization, Qiulin shows the eroding traditional surroundings through both the position of the historical figures regarding the demolished house and their vision. In the background, Qiulin presents a partially demolished traditional family house. She purposefully locates the traditional figures in front of the house and makes them face the dilapidation in order to express disappointment in urbanization. According to their distinct dress, they are deemed descended from heaven and searching for the house they used to call home. However, the views frustrate them as their beloved home is demolished and will soon become ruins and rubble. Positioning the traditional figures in front of the dilapidated house, Qiulin expresses nostalgia for the cultural and architectural disappearance under urban modernization.

Aside from the composition, the point of view of the traditional characters leads the viewers to further consider toward the aftermath of demolition. In the traditional views, the landscapes represent a philosophical notion of harmonious relations between humans and nature, like a woman’s body with aesthetic beauty essential to the built environment. However, this traditional aesthetic collapses as the scale of urbanization behaves like an aggressive man, violently assaulting the land and leaving the woman with a wounded body. The artist’s subjective insertion of a traditional perspective on contemporary destruction questions today’s economic frenzy from a historical perspective. (turn this into topic sentence?)

In order to present the aftermath of the earthquake, Qiulin presents the destroyed landscape through the position and perspectives of the modern figures within the photograph. Qiulin intentionally places the woman wearing a western bridal gown at the foreground and the man in a tuxedo in the background. Though they are dressed for their wedding, they are far apart from each other. The two people seem shocked and bemused by the earthquake and do not know where to go or how to find each other. Deliberately separating the couple, Qiulin illustrates the psychological impact people suffered from the physical change of the environment associated with the earthquake.

Aside from the composition, the modern characters’ point of views leads the viewers to further consider the aftermath of the earthquake. The contemporary characters gaze into space beyond the frame, suggesting a sense of uncertainty and ambiguity. From the glazed look and sullen facial expressions of the two characters, they seem to look at the destruction and damage done. Maybe their wedding place has turned into ruins. Maybe their relatives have become the victims of the disaster and lost their lives. The ambiguity of their perspective reflects the artist’s unease about the unpredictability of nature as the earthquake overthrows the balance between humans and nature.

What are the causes of the decayed environment? Whom should we blame? Interpreting from Qiulin’s portrayal, I believe we, humans, should take full responsibility for destroying the past cultural heritage and blurring the goal for future development. The urban modernization has caused the eroding surroundings. In order to reach urbanization and gain economic benefit for itself, the government neglects the past cultural architectures and chooses to demolish buildings unhesitatingly. The destroyed landscape seems caused by the inevitable natural disaster, but it is related to the jerry-built construction. In order to reach the deadline assigned by their demanding employers, workers have no choice but to rush the construction process without paying attention to the housing quality. As a result, these low-quality houses easily collapse in earthquakes and takes the lives of many people. The damage could have been lessened if the houses are built following standards. As a result, humans have destroyed the past and shattered the identity of the landscape. The future for the homeland will be unclear since the land’s identity has been lost. No one knows what should be constructed anymore.

Overall, Chen Qiulin presents the decayed homeland by focusing on both the demolished surrounding in terms of modernization and destroyed landscape in terms of the earthquake. Qiulin demonstrates these two types of landscapes through the composition of the figures and their points of view. The image reflects modern China’s negligence toward cultural architecture and the contemporary construction process. She invites conversation and contemplation on the role humans play in our environment, whether built or natural. As a viewer, I feel disheartened about the way we choose to blindly move forward and ignore the standards, leading to the loss of identity and punishment from nature. I hope this artwork alarms people into seeing the damage they have done and prevent any future landscape from being destroyed. (a strong conclusion)

 

 

 

 

 At a time where villages in China are either being torn down or abandoned, the Dafen Art Village thrives. It has become one of China’s most successful and sustainable villages, inspiring many others to try and duplicate their success. It has also become a popular tourist attraction, generating a lot of money for the Chinese economy. The reason for its unique success is because of its unique form of urbanization and transformation of identity. The Dafen Village has used art as its medium to transform the villages identity in multiple ways and urbanize without physically destroying and reconstructing the village into skyscrapers.

Through new artworks, the village has transformed its former identity as a solely reduplicative artistic village to an original, creative art village. The village was once known for only reproducing famous artworks from artists like Picasso or Davinci (Dafen comes from the artist name Davinci). However, now its identity has transformed from being a village where you could only purchase recreated artwork to a village where you can get unique, beautiful and original artwork. This transformation is highlighted by the new art museum and artist residencies in the village. The museum has become a symbol of the villages new identity by featuring mostly local artists original work, with very few reduplications. The museum highlights this newly formed artistic identity of the village, through displaying the unique and talented artists work for tourists and locals to see Dafens contribution to the art world. Furthermore, this transition can be seen by the new artist residency the Village has created. Now, artists are being encouraged  to come live and study art in the village, whereas in the past they were only being encouraged to come reduplicate art. The village and Government officials have identified this newfound identity of the village and have embraced it in order urbanize the village and make it sustainable.

The Village has also transformed its identity from a local producer to a global producer of art work. This is highlighted through the villages Main Street, where the artworks are sold. All throughout the street there are many shops and artist selling thousands of pieces of art. In the past many local Chinese and Chinese business vendors would come to Dafen to buy these works. However, now thousands of tourists and businesses from various parts of the globe flock to Dafen to buy the artwork. They still sell reduplicated works, but the main focus now is on original artwork produced by the young local villagers. This gives the villagers and the village a new incentive to embrace art as a medium to expose their talent and identity worldwide. This generates a lot of money for the village and the Chinese government, thus making the village sustainable.

The village has also modernized its architecture and identity through art rather than construction. Various buildings throughout the village are covered in murals and artwork. They also are painted bright, modern colors and have sculptures outside or pieces of art hanging from them. These buildings are a physical symbol of the ideological shift in the villages identities. The artistic buildings are representative of the villages shift from a once reduplicative art village to an original, unique art village. They also are a representation of the shift from the local to global because now these buildings are being used to house international art students in the Dafen Village.

The Dafen Art village has used art as its medium to transform their identities and modernize without destruction. Dafen is a symbol of success to other villages and is one of the most sustainable villages in China. It is a symbol of how villages can use identity and other forms of urbanization besides skyscrapers to modernize and thrive. For Dafen the medium in which they used to urbanize and transformed their identity was art. 

 

While it is important to acknowledge all four VIC landscapes, the discussion of visual aspects of each would require a lengthier medium, rather than a visual analysis post. My contribution for last week’s topic focuses only on two VIC landscapes: Gangxia, Shenzhen and Dafen, Shenzhen. Images from Laurence Liaw’s essay and from various photographers aid in a conversation of how VIC spaces respond to forward-reaching efforts of development and modernization, or, more generally, city modernity.

 

Laurence Liaw’s “Village-in-the-City as a Sustainable Form of Social Housing Communities for China: A Tale of Four Villages in Shenzhen” captures the existence of four very different Village-in-the-City (VIC) settings, Songgang, Gangxia, Dafen, and Honggang. These VICs have similar histories, broadly, but their persistence through time is subject to distinctly specific influences and adaptations, or lackthereof. Liaw spends most of his time documenting the evolution of four VICs as a way of emphasizing the loss, and subsequent importance, of social housing in Shenzhen, China. Coupled with the imagery within and beyond the article, Liaw’s argument allows for an understanding that VICs indeed are individual landscapes, but their presence, persistence, and battle against modernity is shared (Image 1).

Image 1: Gangxia, Shenzhen. From Laurence Liaw’s “Village-in-the-city as a sustainable form of social housing communities for China: a tale of four villages in Shenzhen”

 

Image 2: Computer-generated image of Gangxia (center) and developed high-rises of Shenzhen (peripheral buildings). From https://grabcad.com/library/shenzhen-gangxia-china-city-mass-study-1

 

Gangxia and Dafen have both been encompassed by development, but these two spaces have responded in contrasting ways. The VIC of Gangxia is towered by surrounding high-rise buildings and modern developments (Image 2). In contrast, residential village spaces are ostensibly limited to set heights, around three-story height, often times with dilapidated housing frames/construction. Gangxia’s history is strongly influenced by the construction of civic centers and government spaces; the developing peripheral space has suffocated the development of the VIC community through high demand for housing and high land-costs. Dafen, though similar to Gangxia, has persisted through modernity in the formation of a collective VIC identity. As a symbol of this, the state of Leonardo da Vinci stand, encompassing Dafen’s core identity as a global art powerhouse (Image 3). From mere images alone, we understand that Gangxia and Dafen are responding to modernization in starkly different ways. While Gangxia crumbles to the ground (Image 4), Dafen thrives (Image 5). The collection of visual representations of these villages transforms the identity of the VIC spaces away from mere villages. We could argue that Gangxia will cease to remain a village in the near future and that Dafen, because of the communal core identity, appears to have molded into a thread of the larger city-scape.

Image 3: Statue of Leonardo da Vinci in Dafen, Shenzhen. From Laurence Liaw’s “Village-in-the-city as a sustainable form of social housing communities for China: a tale of four villages in Shenzhen”

Image 4: Man sleeping next to pile of concrete blocks, Gangxia, Shenzhen. Imaged by Jesse Warren. From http://www.shenzhenparty.com/blogs/shenzhen-party-info/66118-gangxia-west-village-photo-colle

 

Image 5: Corridor covered with various oil paintings in Dafen, Shenzhen. From https://www.szcchina.com/blog/dafen-oil-painting-village.html

Through images alone, we understand the liveliness of these two built landscapes. Gangxia is crumbling; its beige, neutral concrete blocks are strewn in piles throughout the closely-packed village area, while Dafen is vibrant. The paintings produced in Dafen paint Dafen, itself, in a bright light. Photographs of these built landscapes demonstrate two responses to city modernity: one that has fallen victim to pressures of development and another that has managed to remain autonomous and ostensibly self-sufficient. (if this is the central argument, then introduce it at the beginning) Can we expect all pockets in a city to persist through time? Perhaps not. We may be able to assume that there is some degree of persistence, whether that persistence is fostering continued housing and residential living or whether that persistence is through ruins. The persistence, regardless, is an aspect of city development. In the case of Shenzhen, visual reminders of different VICs and city-scapes continuously serve as a means of detailing how different communities have responded to the same pressures. It would be easy to assume all VIC spaces have responded in the same way, but these visual moments in time allow us to understand that each VIC, though similar with its original history, are not all that similar with adaptations to modernization and continuity with city modernity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.amusingplanet.com/2016/02/the-urban-villages-of-china.html

In order to modernize and follow the steps of other Chinese major cities, Guangzhou’s government decided to demolish all the villages in the city and turned them into skyscrapers. The photographic caption is divided into two portions, with the migrant worker located in the foreground and his point of view as the leading perspective. What one witnesses from that seized perspective are the village houses in contrast to the skyscrapers in the background. The focal view point and the central position of the migrant worker invite us to consider issues of lost one’s home, thereby one’s identity. (the revised paragraph sounds much clearer now)

The photographer purposefully positions the man against ruins and invites viewers to look through his perspective. From the man’s cheap outfits, one might be able to identify he is him as a migrant worker. His sluggish gesture echoes with the ruins, filled the image with sadness and desperation. Instead of turning his head toward or smiling at the camera, the man turns his back toward the photographer and stares at the buildings on the other side of the river. Positioning the person against the ruin, the photographer establishes his point of view and invites us to look at the buildings in the middle ground.

Departing from the man’s lens, through migrant worker or local resident’s point of view, one may see a couple of buildings under demolition. Some of the building’s remnants are lined up to each other showing signs of the vanished villages in the city. The assembled layout of the remnants reflects the history of the villages. After the government announced the privatized land-use, all landowners started taking advantage of their land by building as many buildings as they could. These constructions the landowners undertook in order to respond to the policy becomes the iconic architectural element for the villages. Besides its historical value, this assembled layout of villages in the city also indicates its cultural function. The proximity between buildings and shared street function as a means to enhance the villages’ community spirit. However, one can barely feel reassured of the closeness nor the history of the village. The disappearance of the assembled layout indicates the imminent threat of demolition that will destroy and erase villages’ historical and cultural values. (if the point of view has been the focal argument, please explain why establishment of that perspective?)

Following the man’s point of view and looking upward, the high-rise apartments at the background make a clear contrast to the villages in the middle ground.  These newly built skyscrapers appear to be monotonous and uniform. The windows and architectural structure for each apartment’s floor look all the same. One can barely distinguish these apartments from one another. Full of stillness and lifelessness, the distant skeleton branches prevent people from having close interactions with their neighbors. Compared to the assembled villages in the middle ground, these apartments lack of historical and cultural values.

To the man, a migrant worker, the modern apartments represent the end of affordable housing to him. Villages in the city used to be the only cheap option for migrant workers to live in Guangzhou. Now, all the villages will be torn down under the government’s policy and be replaced with high-rises. While the citizens and the government are cheering for the urban development, the migrant workers are the ones who are left behind. Staring at the modern apartment at the far end, the man realizes his economic shelters are start vanishing and will soon be replaced by these skeleton branches. At that time, the only place he can find traces of past villages are from the ruins like the ones he is sitting on now.  

Overall, the photographer presents the vanished villages in the city through a migrant worker’s point of view. By dividing the image into two portions, the audience are able to visualize a transition for village in the city. The villages under demolishing will soon turn into ruins and will eventually be replaced by high-rises. The shameful decision of Guangzhou government marks the disappearance of the village identity and has brought up multiple societal concerns. Inviting the landowners to live in high-rise apartments with better living condition seems to be beneficial for landowners. However, these landowners have been collecting rent for most of their life. They have no prior working experience and are not capable of finding a new job or adapting into the society. Similarly, the migrant workers are gradually being excluded from the city. The fast urban development of Guangzhou brings up the housing prices, and the migrants will not be able to find any affordable housing as cheap as the ones in villages. I hope the government can be more aware of the aftermath they caused by demolishing villages in the city and support the victims accordingly. (the conclusion could be tightened up more)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Peace Hotel is originally named the Sassoon House, built be British-Jewish businessman Sir Victor Sassoon. At the time of its construction, it was one of the tallest buildings in the Eastern Hemisphere. Because Sassoon’s business is mostly based in East Asia, the building still bears strong marks of European aesthetics, establishing Western dominance on the Bund. However, as is the littoral space itself, the Peace Hotel is never truly British, or even entirely Western, even in its early days. (what argument could be made, if so?)

The outside of the hotel, as can be seen on the photo, is strongly influenced by the Art Deco movement that was popular in the late 19^thand early 20^thcentury. The base of the outside façade is made from granite bricks, a common element in Art Deco buildings. The windows and exterior walls are lined with geometric lines and shapes. Most prominent in the building is the bright green 19-meter high pinnacle on top of the building. The pinnacle and its surrounding ridges are in the Gothic Revival style, sought to introduce key elements of the medieval Gothic style with modern craftsmanship. The Gothic element here is a pointed pinnacle instead of rounded dome as the highest point of the building, while the Art Deco element provide the vivid green color, therefore showcasing different styles on the same building. (what does the detailed deco indicate or support for?)

The eclecticism extends to the interior of the building, where Sassoon built nine suites with themes of nine different countries: Germany, Japan, France, Great Britain, China, United States, India, Spain, and Italy, (again what does the architecture indicate) the most luxurious one being the English suite, inhabited by Sir Victor Sassoon himself. In these nine countries, Sassoon included both European countries and Asian countries. This illustrates his desire to unite the aesthetics both from around his home country and from other places he might call home. This is especially true for the Chinese suite because there is rarely anything in the traditional Chinese style on the Bund, ironically. Sassoon manages to make this littoral space even more international and eclectic through the suites in different styles. (if this is the argument, then introduce it at the beginning of the paragraph)

Even the residents of the Peace Hotel underline the specialness of the stylistic amalgam of the interior and exterior of the building. Among its most celebrated guests are George Marshall, Sun Zhongshan, Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw, Queen Elizabeth, President George H. W. Bush, and so many more. From this list of notable guests, it is clear that the Peace Hotel is not only a politically significant hotel in Shanghai, but also attracts actors, writers, and elites from all walks of life. (again what does this say?) On top of that, all of those guests can find a piece of their home in the hotel, whether it be a piece of furniture or decoration.

Another key feature among the peoples of the Peace Hotel is the Jazz Band. Comprised of a group of local Shanghainese men above the age of 75, the band plays classical “old Shanghai” Jazz numbers every night. Jazz music, originated from the US, is combined with Chinese lyrics praising the beauty of Shanghai. The songs are played by old gentlemen who have lived their whole life in Shanghai, with instruments imported from Europe. This performance becomes a unique feature of Shanghai because it illustrates how Shanghai has taken in different cultural identities through trade in the littoral area. The new and unique treaty port culture is formed upon this merging of different cultures.

Shanghai Club 

The Shanghai Club was originally built in 1861 by the British. This original design consists of a three storied neoclassical style building made of brick. It was torn down and rebuilt in 1910, by a British architect named BH Tarrand. This new design was a six story building, built in a neo-classical style with touches of English Renaissance and Baroque components. The building was also built was built by Chinese workers with Chinese material and consist of many foreign countries architectural designs and influences. (what does the (re)built from one to another indicate: we need to make an argument here)

The exterior features of the building consist of 6 Suzhou columns on the facade, 3 horizontal divisions by strong bands similar to columns, pedimented windows, carved floral swags, and two Indo-Sarecenic style turrets on the corners of the building. The buildings exterior features are a mixture of many different styles that originated in many different countries. There are the Indo-Sarenic turrets which represent India’s influence over British architecture and in turn architecture in Shanghai built by the British. There is also the Greek columns made out of Suzhou, which is a material only found in China representing Chinese influence on the architecture. There were also other Chinese materials used and many other elements of Italian, French, Dutch, and Indian design. The blend of these elements and styles into this one building is symbolic of the foreign influence on Shanghai during this time period and even today. (make the claim at the beginning of the paragraph and serve as leading idea. then explain how each architectural transition participates in the identity making of the bund)

The interior was designed by a Japenese architect named Shimoda Kikutaro, which in itself is another symbol of how Japenese concession of Shanghai, and later the Japenese occupation of Shanghai influenced Shanghai architecture and art. The interior consists of a grand hall, class ceilings held up by 17 foot high Ionic columns, news room, billiards rooms, 40 bedrooms, barber shops, multiple dining halls, marble floors, a library with more books than the Shanghai library at the time, and the most famous feature, the long bar. The long bar was at one point the world’s longest bar and within the bar itself there was a hierarchical structure. The end closer to the bund was reserved for the wealthiest and most elite men in the world, the farther away from that end one sat, the less wealthy and elite he was. The hierarchy inside the club is ironic because even within the most elite in the world there was a hierarchy. While the members inside of the club were experience a minor sense of hierarchy, outside the club the local Chinese were dealing with a huge amount of hierarchical bias and discrimination. In fact, no Chinese were allowed in the club unless they were servants and many of the Chinese were not even allowed in entire foreign concessions. (again highlight the issue of hierarchy at the beginning of the paragraph, then use architectural evidence to support the argument)

Throughout its history the building has been used for many different things. It functioned as the Shanghai Club until the Japenese occupation of Shanghai in World War II. At that time it is unknown what it was used for. Then, once the communist party took over in 1949, it was repurposed into an international seamen’s house for foreign sailors. After that, in 1971, it was turned into the Shanghai Dongfeng hotel but saw little success and was turned into China’s first KFC in 1990 (what does the transition speak for). Now, it is apart of the Hilton Hotel group and is called the Waldorf-Astoria, many of its historical elements, including the long bar have been brought back and renovated. The history of how the building itself has been used is also representative of the foreign influences of Shanghai over time, most noticeably, the KFC and the Waldorf-Astoria. The KFC is a direct result of foreign, in this case American influence, on Shanghai culture and buildings. This historic building, which was originally built by foreigners, was now being used for commercial profit by another foreign company. The KFC was very expensive and a big deal to many people in China and allowed the spread of certain elements of American/Western culture to spread within China.. Similarly, with the Waldorf-Astoria, the building is now owned by another foreign power and being used for profit and mostly by foreigners. Not many locals stay in this hotel or use its services. (reorganize these material and allow them to support your claim)

The architecture of the original building and the buildings history and purposes are symbolic of foreign influence on Shanghai. The architectural elements were a mixture of many foreign countries and this was representative of how many different foreign countries influenced not just the Shanghai club but (the treaty port culture in Shanghai in general) many other buildings architecture features in Shanghai. The different purposes of the building throughout time is symbolic of how foreign countries have used the building for its own personal or commercial gain while spreading its own influence in culture throughout Shanghai. 

 

Buildings located on the Bund in Shanghai, China are pillars of the city’s global history. Elements including the concept of each buildings, construction materials, and outside versus inside building appearances reflect ideas of historical significance and change/continuity through time. The Russell & Company Building in Shanghai, China captures, and sequesters, Shanghai’s history in its outward facing exterior. Like many elements of the built city landscape, the Russell and Company building has persisted through time, yet components of this structure have been molded by the evolution of the Chinese state; this evolution and subtle changes alongside posit the Russell and Company building an important component of Shanghai’s global history. (specify the notion of “global history” as the bund as the treaty port speaks for a special identity and history)

Historical photo of the Russell and Company Building, late 19th Century – 1881. Eric Politzer, 2007

            The Russell and Company Building’s original exterior reflecting modernization attempts from Chinese stakeholders, while still incorporating neo-classical European elements. Built in the late 19^th-century under architectural designers Morrison & Gratton, the building reflected neo-gothic and neo-classical elements, in addition to red brick design and colorful window awnings. Pictured above, we get a vague sense that the building was unlike other buildings along the Bund at the time. The red brick colors and window awning elements separated the Russell and Company building from different monolithic buildings, such as the HSBC building and the Customs House; both these buildings are washed out by their granite exteriors and harken back to ideas of neutral monument and building palettes provided by buildings and monuments in Tiananmen Square. At the time of construction, the Russell and Company building reflected attempts at modernizing China, but once the ownership of the building transferred from American stakeholders to Chinese stakeholders, the building’s outward expression changed, too. (if the intention of modernization in terms of the architecture is the focal point in this section, then use all the visual elements to support whether the attempt of modernization is achieved or failed and why)

A “modernized” Russell and Company Building, now the China Merchants Bank. Tour-Beijing. com

            Chinese ownership of the Russell and Company Building changed the structure from colorfully unique to neutral and ordinary (what does the transition speak for: need a topic sentence that introduces a topical idea). The building was purchased by the China Merchants Bank in the early 20^th-century. At this time, the building was re-worked and renovated to better adjust the building for its new purpose of banking (define what is the “new purpose”). Above, we see that the building adopted a neutral, gray color scheme, devoid of color and devoid of unique building character. Though the exterior is not dominated by granite blocks, there is now a monumentality of the exterior, which allows it to blend into the larger Bund landscape. The transition from red-brick color to painted grays may be reflecting shifts in the Chinese state’s view of their built landscape (if this is the focal point, then introduce it at the beginning of the paragraph) or shifts in the use of the building. It would be erroneous to assume that the burgeoning communist state alone was the driver in “neutralizing” the Russell and Company Building’s appearance (or rendering the colonial impact); it very well may be the case that the shift into a Chinese bank induced desires for building owners to want the building to blend in with other banking buildings on the Bund.

 

Aspects of changing ownership and state influences are omnipresent in consideration of our built landscape. The Russell and Company building demonstrates both ideas beautifully. For a building which was once lauded as unique and exemplary, with regards to modernization, the reality of it now being lost in the larger strip of the Bund has allowed us to understand that the Bund consumes all potential for buildings to stand out. We understand that each building was constructed with competition for riverfront access in mind; this doesn’t necessarily allow for uniqueness of the structure to come through. Instead, it would make sense for individual building elements to allow for each building to shine, but if we consider all buildings together, there ceases to be uniqueness; the only uniqueness is the Bund itself, for its history of a littoral landscape makes it contrasts against other built landscapes, particularly the Pudong, another critical aspect of the Shanghai city identity. The Russell and Company Building is now consumed by the Bund’s littoral identity, yet in doing so, there story of the building’s consumption is telling of how the Bund has shaped up to be the iconic, yet monochromatic, historical landscape we see it as. (if littoral identity or space is the key issue, then may make it as the overarching central thesis)

 

Citations:

Politzer, Eric , “Number 6 on the Bund: Looking back. New facts about an old building” (2007)

http://www.tour-beijing.com/blog/category/shanghai-travel/shanghai-attractions/page/7

 

 

The Bangkok Bank is a branch of Bangkok Bank Public Company Limited, was formerly the Great Northern Telegraph Company and has had a presence in Shanghai since 1931. Although the owners of the building have changed over decades, the architecture itself has remained one of the classic buildings on the Bund. It reflects the potential negotiation between the local Chinese and the foreign Thai from the age of treaty port culture through its design plan, material structures, and facade.

The initial engagement between the foreign Bangkok bankers and local landowners found visual evidence from the design plan of the towers and flags. From the design plan’s architecture, viewers see that the bank is designed as bilaterally symmetrical with an extended tower and a national flag on each side of the building. The towers, designed with a European Renaissance style, indicate potential interaction. (I’d like to learn how and why the towers in renaissance style would promote interactions) The towers are located on each side of the building as though they are two negotiators. The connecting structure between the towers simulates two negotiators placing their arms on each other’s shoulder, displaying a reached agreement. In addition to the towers, the flags, Chinese on the left, Thai on the right,  indicates the identity of the two negotiators. With the interactions simulated by the towers and national identities defined in terms of the flags,  the symmetrical layout of the two reflects the amicable relationship between the native and the foreign.

To further refer to the idea of negotiation, the Bangkok bank architecture  shows credibility to local landowners. The Thailand bankers’ reliability and dedication will find visual evidence from the bank’s material structures, the black rooftop  and white facade. The black enamel rooftop, presented in a rococo-style, simulates a gentlemen’s tophat. The white walls, built in masonry, provide the appearance of a neat dress shirt. The black rooftop and the white wall integrate perfectly creating the image of a well-dressed authoritative gentleman who will treat the banking business seriously. The combination of the black rooftop and white walls (color is addressed and how about the materials itself?) gives the building a sense of solemnity and elegance. The material structure of the Bangkok Bank asserts the intention of continuing engagement of the Thais with the Chinese.

Successful cooperation finds visual evidence in facade’s focal point, the Garuda. This bird-man creature is the national emblem of Thailand and is awarded by the Thai Royal family to outstanding companies. The body of the Garuda is red like the Chinese flag, indicating Thai people keep the needs of the local Chinese in mind. Around the body, the Garuda extends his golden wings, a sign of limitless future opportunities with the Chinese. Overall, the Garuda displays a gesture of flying in the sky, signaling the triumphant collaboration with the local Chinese. In addition to the physical features of the Garuda, its position on the facade also indicates architecture choice. Garuda is being geometrically arranged at the lower central axis of the building. The placement meets with the viewer’s eye level and will become the most eye-catching feature of the building. Being the focal point, the Garuda symbolizes a successful bridge between the Thai and Chinese. The facade of the Bangkok Bank  presents the successful engagement of the Thai in Shanghai.

Overall, the Bangkok Bank on the Bund exemplifies a successful communication and documents the history of Thai interactions within China. Through its design plan, material structures, and facade, this bank building articulates the diligence Thai foreigners maintained in order to win the trust of the Chinese during the age of  the treaty port.