Rong Zhai () is a standalone western-style house located on 186 North Shaanxi Road in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. It belonged to

Rong Zongjing Rong Zongjing (; September 23, 1873 - 1938) was a Chinese industrialist from Wuxi, Jiangsu. He was the older brother of Rong Desheng and the uncle of Rong Yiren Rong Yiren (; May 1, 1916 – October 26, 2005) was the Vice President of the ...

, a Chinese industrialist and national capitalist during the late

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

and the early Republic of China who was known as the "King of Flour". The house was purchased by

in 1918 as one of his Shanghai homes.

Description

The house is built in a western-style and is a standalone three-story home. Including the garden area, the total land space is 6.6 mu, 2,182 square meters of which are taken up by the house and 2,475 square meters for the garden. Rong Zhai was designed in an

Eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in ...

style with reinforced concrete structure by Chen Chunjiang. The interior was decorated with a combination of French classicism and traditional Chinese elements. The outside structure and technology are mainly Western style while the inside arrangements had more of a traditional Chinese design.

History

In 1918

purchased the house from a German person who had returned home to Germany after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, however the house was left empty for a long period of time by his family due to the need to develop the family business. In 1949, after the liberation of Shanghai, the Rong family rented the house to the China Economic Research Institute. The house was also rented to the media tycoon

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

in 2002 for ten years while he used it as his Shanghai office for the News Corporation. After Murdoch's lease was terminated, the house was rented to

Prada Prada S.p.A. (, ; ) is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in 1913 in Milan by Mario Prada. It specializes in leather handbags, travel accessories, shoes, ready-to-wear, and other fashion accessories. Prada licenses its name and branding t ...

in 2011 for a ten-year tenancy, with the intent to use it for "product promotion like fashion shows, public activities and exhibitions". In 2004, the Rong Zhai was listed as a Culture Relic Protection Site of Jing'an district and honored with Heritage Architecture by Shanghai Municipal Government in 2005.

Restoration

After Prada assumed tenancy, the brand began a six-year building renovation project to reflect Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli's interest in the city of Shanghai and Chinese aesthetic heritage. The renovation was also intended to repair damage to decorations on the inside and outside of the building as well as make necessary reinforcements to the building's structure. After the renovation was complete Prada held a great reopening on October 12, 2017.

References

External links

* {{coord missing, Shanghai Houses in Shanghai Chinese architectural history Cultural heritage of China