The American Club, 209 Fuzhou Rd,

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

was built by

László Hudec László Ede Hudec or Ladislav Hudec () (Besztercebánya, Austria-Hungary (now Banská Bystrica, Slovakia) January 8, 1893 – Berkeley, October 26, 1958), Chinese name Wu Dake (), was a Hungarian– Slovak architect active in Shanghai from 1918 ...

of Curry & Co. between 1923 and 1925 in the American Georgian Style. Originally built as an all-male club after purchasing the site in 1922, it was a popular club for expatriates. A six-storey building plus basement, around 1000m2 per floor, designed in the common steel and concrete construction prevalent along

The Bund The Bund is a waterfront area and a protected historical district in central Shanghai. The area centers on a section of Zhongshan Road (East Zhongshan Road No.1) within the former Shanghai International Settlement, which runs along the wester ...

area of Shanghai. Containing bars,

billiard room A billiard room (also billiards room, or more specifically pool room, snooker room) is a recreation room, such as in a house or recreation center, with a billiards, pool or snooker table (The term "billiard room" or "pool room" may also be use ...

and 50 bedrooms there was also a rooftop garden. Original Cornerstone of the Shanghai American Club

“Architect Laszlo Hudec chose the American Georgian colonial style, which was popular with social clubs in the US at that time,” says

Tongji University Tongji University is a public university located in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. Tongji is one of the ...

associate professor Hua Xiahong, author of the book “Shanghai Hudec Architecture.” “The interior is designed ... with a lot of dark wood, classic applied columns and white door frames. It is not widely known, but the mahjong room on the second floor came from the hand of a Chinese expert, who adapted the typical Chinese official style,” Hua adds. “The room has a Chinese-style coffered ceiling with colorful paintings and palace lanterns as ornaments. It is furnished with traditional Chinese square tables and fauteuils to enhance the Chinese ambience.” Between 1960 and 1991 it became the premises of the Shanghai

Higher People's Court A high people's court or higher people's court (高级人民法院) is the highest local court in the People's Republic of China. In each province, it is subject to the "People's Congress". According to the ''Organic Law of the People's Courts ...

and the Shanghai Second Intermediate people’s court. A Shanghai Architectural Plaque was mounted in 1994, but in 2017 the building had been unused and empty since 1991. On 20 August 2018, the newly established Shanghai Financial Court opened in the building.

External links

Inside Shanghai's Old American Club

Collection of high-resolution photographs of historic buildings in Shanghai

References

{{coord missing, Shanghai László Hudec buildings Buildings and structures in Shanghai 1925 establishments in China American expatriates in Shanghai