Robert Fan Wenzhao (1893-1979) was an important figure among first-generation twentieth century Chinese architects, specifically for Shanghai’s architectural
modernist movement in the 1930s.
Biography
Born in Shanghai, Fan got a degree in engineering from
St John's University in 1917.
After working at St John's as engineering professor for two years, Fan pursued a Bachelor's degree in architecture from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...
, graduating in 1922.
There, he studied under
Paul Philippe Cret, who had been trained in the Beaux-Arts style.
Fan travelled extensively in Europe and America, acquiring a taste for modern, Western architectural styles, such as
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
.
Upon his return to Shanghai in 1922, Fan joined the Sino-American engineering venture Lam, Glines & Company (允元公司) of
Von-Fong Lam (1891–1987).
[ Three years later he opened one of the first Chinese architectural practices in Shanghai with fellow University of Pennsylvania alumnus Zhao Chen. Fan and Zhao designed the Nanking Theater in 1930 (now called the Shanghai Concert Hall), near People’s Square, before parting ways to start separate firms.
The following year, Fan also designed the Chinese YMCA (now the Marvel Hotel Shanghai), combining typical elements of Chinese architecture with Modern lines. He is also responsible for the Art Deco Majestic Theatre on Jiangning Lu in Jingan, built in 1941. Beyond his own firm, Fan worked with the government on several occasions. He served as a member of the Committee of the Nanjing City Planning Bureau in 1929, and was a technical consultant for the Ministry of Railways in Nanjing in 1932; where he was responsible for both the Railway and Health Ministries.
Eventually, Fan abandoned his Beaux-Arts training to embrace Modernist thinking. In 1933, he completed the Yafa Court apartment complex (253 – 267 Wuyuan Road). These apartments were advertised as having “modern sanitation, central heating, hot and cold water, Westinghouse refrigerators, and garages”. Fan also designed, in 1942, the Georgia Apartments on Hengshan Road in a late Art Deco style.]Vitasoy
Vitasoy () is a Hong Kong beverage company. It hosts a brand of beverages and desserts named ''Vita''. Founded in 1940, it now operates under the Vitasoy International Holdings Limited. Its headquarters are in Tuen Mun, New Territories, Hon ...
Bottling Plant in Kwun Tong.[
After the Communists took control of China in 1949, Fan fled with his wife to Hong Kong, at the age of 56.]
See also
*Liu Jipiao
Liu Jipiao (), (1900–1992) was a Chinese architect associated with the development of Art Deco architecture in China and an oil painter of Realism. Liu's approach to architecture was to create a modern design with a distinctive Chinese aestheti ...
*Poy Gum Lee
Poy Gum Lee (; 1900–1968) was a Chinese-American architect. Lee is known for his Art Deco buildings with Chinese architectural influence or "Chinese Deco" in Shanghai as well as in Chinatown, Manhattan, New York City.
Early life and education ...
References
:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fan, Robert
Chinese architects
1893 births
1979 deaths
Beaux Arts architects
Modernist architects
Art Deco architects
St. John's University, Shanghai alumni
University of Pennsylvania School of Design alumni