László Hudec

László Hudec
Born(1893-01-08)January 8, 1893
Besztercebánya, Austria-Hungary
(today Banská Bystrica, Slovakia)
DiedOctober 26, 1958(1958-10-26) (aged 65)
Berkeley, California, United States
Other namesLadislav/László/Ladislaus/Ladislaw Hudec
CitizenshipHungarian (1893-1921)
Czechoslovak (1921-1941)
Hungarian (1941-)
Alma materBudapest University
OccupationArchitect
SpouseGizella Mayer
BuildingsPark Hotel Shanghai (more...)

László Ede Hudec[1] or Ladislav Hudec (Hungarian: Hugyecz László Ede)[1] (Besztercebánya, Austria-Hungary (now Banská Bystrica, Slovakia) January 8, 1893 – Berkeley, October 26, 1958), Chinese name Wu Dake (Chinese: 鄔達克), was a Hungarian[2][3]–Slovak[4][5] born architect, active in Shanghai from 1918 to the 1940s. He was responsible for some of the city's most notable and inventive architectural landmarks, particularly the Park Hotel, at 22 floors, the tallest in East Asia, and inspired by New York Art Deco skyscrapers. He also designed the German Expressionist inspired Baptist Publications and Christian Literature Society Building, the Art Deco Grand Theatre, and the Streamlined D. V. Woo House ("Green House"), probably the grandest and most up to date house of the 1930s.

Biography

Hudec was born in 1893 in Besztercebánya, Austria-Hungary (now Banská Bystrica in Slovakia).[5] His father, György Hugyecz was a wealthy Magyarized[note 1] Slovak[4][6][7] architect, born in the nearby village of Felsőmicsinye (now Horná Mičiná), while his mother, Paula Skultéty was an ethnic Hungarian[4] from Kassa (now Košice). He studied architecture at Budapest University from 1911 to 1914.[8] As a patriot,[5] Hudec volunteered to join the Austro-Hungarian Army after outbreak of World War I, but was captured by the Russian Army in 1916 and was sent to a prison camp in Siberia.[5] While being transferred, he jumped from a train near the Chinese border and made his way to Shanghai, where he joined the American architectural office R. A. Curry in 1918.[8]

In 1922, he married Gisella Mayer, who had been born in Shanghai to a German father and a Scottish mother, and the couple soon had three children.[9] While still in the Curry office he is credited with a number of designs including a mansion, a school and the prestigious American Club

In 1925, he opened his own practice,[8] and was responsible for at least 100 projects up to 1941.[10] His work in the 1920s was largely in the classical or other revival styles. He made a number of trips to Europe including Hungary and Germany, and the United States. From 1930 some designs were in variations of Art Deco, influenced by American practice,[9] and 1920s German Expressionist architecture.[10] The Park Hotel is particularly influenced by American skyscrapers, with a stepped top reminiscent of the American Radiator Building, whereas the Sieh Yih Chapel has clear links to 1920s German churches, for instance those by Dominikus Bohm.

Hudec's masterpiece is usually considered to be the 22-storey Park Hotel, on Nanjing Road across from Shanghai Racecourse. designed in 1929 and completed in 1934, it was reputed to be the tallest building in East Asia at the time, and remained the tallest in the city until the 1980s. It has long been a local landmark, and remains a popular image of interwar Shanghai.[9]

The 1937 D.V. Woo Tongwen house is considered one of his most notable designs, using curving streamlined forms all tiled in green. It featured four floors of accommodation, and many luxury technical features, such as ducted heating.

After the value of silver collapsed in 1935, and the Japanese invaded China and surrounded Shanghai in 1937, new projects almost dried up.

After the Munich Agreement in 1938 Hudec lost his Czechoslovak citizenship and applied to become Hungarian citizen.[5] In 1941 he obtained a Hungarian passport and was appointed Honorary Consul of Hungary in Shanghai.[5]

After leaving Shanghai in 1947, Hudec moved to Lugano and later to Rome. In 1950 he moved to Berkeley where he taught at the University of California. He died from a heart-attack during an earthquake in 1958. In 1970 his remains were buried in an evangelical cemetery in Banská Bystrica.[11]

Since the mid 2000s, his work has been rediscovered and featured in various publications in both English and Chinese.[10]

Buildings in Shanghai

Listed by date of completion, dates from Shanghai Hudec Architecture (2013).

Buildings in Slovakia

  • László Hudec c1934
  • Normandie Apartments
  • Moore Memorial Church
  • American Club
  • Four Banks Savings Association
  • Estrella Apartments
  • Hudec House in the 1930s
  • China Baptist and Christian Literature Society Building
  • Grand Theatre
  • German Church
  • Ding Guitang House
  • D.V. Woo House

References

  1. ^ a b "Life and work; Roots". Ministry of Culture and Education of Hungary; College of Architecture and Urban Planning of Tongji University. www.hudec.cn. 2008. Archived from the original on October 3, 2011. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  2. ^ Wasserstrom, Jeffrey N. (2009). Global Shanghai, 1850-2010: a history in fragments. Routledge. p. 102. ISBN 9780415213288.
  3. ^ Wang Zhiyong (April 23, 2009). "'Hudec and Shanghai', Deke Erh Photography Exhibition". China Internet Information Center. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  4. ^ a b c Csejdy, Júlia (2009). "Besztercebányától Sanghajig. Hugyecz László építész (1893-1958) életpályája" [From Banská Bystrica to Shanghai. The life of architect László Hugyecz (1893-1958) Ifjúság, egyetemi évek] (in Hungarian). Hudec Heritage Project. Archived from the original on March 9, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2011. Hogy vajon magyar vagy tót vagyok, én nem tudom, nem is keresem, magamat széjjel nem vághatom, mint szétvágták hazámat, mindig az maradok, ami voltam. Nem kérdezte senki tőlem a régi szentistváni Magyarországon, hogy vajon tót vagyok-e vagy magyar? Szerettem mindkettőt, hiszen anyám magyar, apám tót származású volt, és én is mind a kettő voltam." Full translation: "Whether I am Magyar [Hungarian] or Tót [Slovak], I do not know, nor do I seek [to know]. I cannot cut myself into parts like my fatherland [Kingdom of Hungary] has been carved up, I'll always remain, what I have been. In the old Hungary of [King] St. Stephen nobody asked me whether I was Tót or Magyar? I loved them both, since my mother was Magyar, and my Father of Tót ancestry, and I myself was both.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Kaboš, Ladislav. "The man who changed Shanghai". Who is L.E.Hudec. Retrieved May 17, 2011.
  6. ^ Peter G. Rowe, Seng Kuan, Architectural Encounters with Essence and Form in Modern China, MIT Press, 2004, p.58
  7. ^ Modern Chinese literature and culture, vol.18-19, Foreign Language Publications, 2006, p.45
  8. ^ a b c Warr, Anne: Shanghai Architecture, The Watermark Press, 2007, ISBN 978-0-949284-76-1
  9. ^ a b c "László Hudec: Shanghai's Master Builder « Historic Shanghai". Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  10. ^ a b c "Shanghai Hudec Architecture". Issuu. 2024-10-29. Retrieved 2026-01-14.
  11. ^ "EXPO 2010 Slovakia Pavilion Official website". Retrieved August 6, 2010.
  12. ^ "Columbia Circle". West 8. Retrieved 2026-01-24.

Notes

  1. ^ Originally Juraj Hudec, he changed his Slovak name "Hudec" to the Hungarian form "Hugyecz" in 1890. (Kaboš, Ladislav. "The man who changed Shanghai". Who is L.E.Hudec. Retrieved May 17, 2011.)
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