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Ladislav Hudec - the Slovak who changed Shanghai

His name may not be known to many, but in the Chinese municipality of Shanghai, Ladislav Hudec is revered as one of the most important Slovaks. He lived in the city between 1918 and 1947, leaving behind several important Art Deco buildings, including the iconic 22-floor Park Hotel, Asia's first skyscraper. Many of his works still survive to this day.

On January 8 we mark the 130th anniversary of Hudec's birth. Discover the astonishing story of the Slovak architect’s success in Shanghai. 

Born in the central-Slovak town of Banská Bystrica into the family of city builder Juraj Hudec, Ladislav's childhood was heavily influenced by his father and place of birth. He studied architecture at the Budapest University of Technology Economics. During this time, he designed a tiny wooden-stone chapel in the village of Vyhne. Shortly after graduating in 1914 he had to join the Austro-Hungarian army and fought in World War I.

In 1916 he was captured by the Russian army and sent to prison camps in Siberia. While being transferred to one, along with his brother and several other prisoners he managed to escape and find his way to Shanghai. Being a hard-working man, Ladislav got a job in an architecture company and became the main architect. He later married Gizella Mayer, the daughter of a wealthy German banker and opened his own studio, launching a stellar career.

Shanghai was a flourishing city in the 1920s and 1930s as a result of a construction boom. At the time, Hudec designed many important buildings in the city. The construction of the Park Hotel in the Art Deco style was completed in 1934. With 22 storeys and almost 84 meters in height, it became the tallest building in Asia. It remained so until 1963, even until 1983 in Shanghai itself.

Hudec's other notable building in Shanghai include the American Club, Country Hospital, Wukang Mansion, German Church, Moore Memorial Church, and the Grand Theatre. At the time the latter was the biggest cinema in Asia and the height of technological innovation. The theatre seats had an installed translation system, so the audience could watch foreign movies.

Hudec's stay in Shanghai became very complicated during World War II and the subsequent political changes meant that he had to leave. For a while Hudec and his family lived in Switzerland. The architect wanted to return to his hometown of Banská Bystrica but the communist regime in Czechoslovakia would not allow him to. In 1950 Hudec found his home in Berkley, California, where he spent the rest of his life and gave lectures at the university.

He died of a heart attack in 1958.

Ladislav Hudec spent his fruitful life outside his homeland, resulting in his relative obscurity in Slovakia. Everything changed with the movie "The Man Who Changed Shanghai," which played at the Shanghai Expo. Written and directed by Ladislav Kabos, the film peers through Hudec's own eyes and  documents his travel between Slovakia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, the U.S., Japan and China.

The final part of the movie, where Hudec's children reminisce of how their father instructed them to return his ashes to Slovakia, saying that "I want to be buried there," is especially touching. Hudec's dream of returning home was fulfilled in 1970 when his remains were buried in the family tomb in Banská Bystrica.

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