The Wukang Mansion or Wukang Building (), formerly known as the Normandie Apartments or International Savings Society Apartments, is a protected historic

apartment building An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

in the former

French Concession The Shanghai French Concession; ; Shanghainese pronunciation: ''Zånhae Fah Tsuka'', group=lower-alpha was a foreign concession in Shanghai, China from 1849 until 1943, which progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. ...

area of

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 flowin ...

. It was designed by the Hungarian-Slovak architect

László Hudec László Ede Hudec or Ladislav Hudec ( hu, Hugyecz László Ede) (Besztercebánya, Austria-Hungary (now Banská Bystrica, Slovakia) January 8, 1893 – Berkeley, October 26, 1958), Chinese name Wu Dake (), was a Hungarian– Slovak architect acti ...

and completed in 1924. The building has been the residence of many celebrities.

Location

The building is located at the southern end of

Wukang Road Wukang Road (), originally Route Ferguson (福开森路), is a historic road in the Xuhui District of Shanghai, China, located in the western part of the former French Concession area of the city. In 2011 Wukang Road was recognized as one of the ...

(formerly Route Ferguson), on the corner with Middle

Huaihai Road Huaihai Road or Huaihai Lu (; Shanghainese: ''Wahae Lu'') is a road in Shanghai, China. The central section of Huaihai Road is one of the two major shopping streets in central Shanghai; the other is Nanjing Road. Compared with the more touristy N ...

(formerly Avenue Joffre), in Shanghai's

Xuhui District Xuhui District is a core urban district of Shanghai. It has a land area of and a population of 982,200 as of 2008. The Xuhui District is named after its namesake, the historic area of Xujiahui. Xujiahui was historically land owned by Ming dyn ...

. It is in the western part of the former

area of the city. The address of the building is 1836–1858 Middle Huaihai Road.

Architecture

Completed in 1924, the eight-storey building was designed by the renowned Hungarian-Slovak architect

(1893–1958), who designed many landmarks in Shanghai. It is in the French Renaissance style and is the oldest veranda-style apartment building in Shanghai. There's an urban legend that the name was to commemorate ''Normandie'', a

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 ...

-era battleship. However no such battleship served in WWI in the French Navy. The building looks like a ship from one direction. The unusual wedge-shape of the building is reminiscent of the

Flatiron Building The Flatiron Building, originally the Fuller Building, is a triangular 22-story, steel-framed landmarked building at 175 Fifth Avenue in the eponymous Flatiron District neighborhood of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by Dan ...

in New York City. The concrete building is tall, occupies a land area of , and has a floor area of . There were originally 63 apartments, 30 servants' quarters, and three elevators.

History

Originally built for Western employees of companies based in the foreign concessions, the building was bought by Kung Ling-wei, daughter of the wealthy banker

H. H. Kung Kung Hsiang-hsi (; 11 September 1881 – 16 August 1967), often known as Dr. H. H. Kung, was a Chinese banker and politician in the early 20th century. He married Soong Ai-ling, the eldest of the three Soong sisters; the other two married Pres ...

, in 1942. Kung moved into the building, which also became popular with many celebrities of Shanghai, centre of China's film industry during the Republic of China era. Residents included famous actors and actresses Wu Yin,

Wang Renmei Wang Renmei (; December 1914 – 2 April 1987) was a famous Chinese actress and singer nicknamed the "Wildcat of Shanghai". She was mainly active during the 1930s, and her most notable film was the 1934 ''Song of the Fishermen'' (available onli ...

Qin Yi Qin Yi (; 4 February 1922 – 9 May 2022) was a Chinese actress. She gained fame for her stage performances in the war-time capital Chongqing during the Second Sino-Japanese War. After the war, she became one of China's most popular film actre ...

Zhao Dan Zhao Dan (June 27, 1915 – October 10, 1980) was a Chinese actor popular in the golden age of Chinese Cinema. Biography Zhao first became famous working in the Mingxing Film Company in the 1930s including playing opposite Zhou Xuan in '' St ...

, Sun Daolin,

Wang Wenjuan Wang Wenjuan (; 19 December 1926 – 6 August 2021) was a noted performer in Yue opera. She was well known for playing the title role Lin Daiyu in the 1962 film of ''Dream of the Red Chamber'', an adaptation of a work by Cao Xueqin. Biog ...

Shangguan Yunzhu Shangguan Yunzhu (; 2 March 1920 – 23 November 1968) was a Chinese actress active from the 1940s to the 1960s. She was considered one of the most talented and versatile actresses in China, and was named one of the 100 best actors of the 100 ...

, and actor/director Zheng Junli. Sun Daolin lived in the building for 30 years with his wife Wang Wenjuan, until his death in 2007.

Soong Ching-ling Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 189329 May 1981) was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, then Premier of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. ...

, the widow of President Sun Yat-sen, lived opposite the building across Huaihai Road. Her home is now open to the public as the Soong Ching-ling Memorial Residence. The former Normandie Apartments was renamed in 1953 to Wukang Mansion after the street it is on. During the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

(1966–1976), the

Red Guards Red Guards () were a mass student-led paramilitary social movement mobilized and guided by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 through 1967, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a Red Guard lead ...

renamed the building Anti-Revisionist Tower, but local residents referred to it as "The Diving Board" because of the dozens of suicides by intellectuals and others who were persecuted as "state enemies". Wukang Mansion is one of Shanghai's historic buildings under municipal protection. In 2008 it was restored by the government of Xuhui District.

References

{{coord, 31.2045, N, 121.4383, E, display=title László Hudec buildings 1924 establishments in China Buildings and structures in Shanghai Landmarks in Shanghai Shops in Shanghai Apartment buildings in China French Renaissance architecture Commercial buildings completed in 1924

Location

Architecture

History

See also

References