MArch Architecture Dissertation | Newcastle University (2021-22) | Olyvia Tam

Jing Olyvia Tam

泰 晤 士 小 chinese thames town : 鎮 value of replication

泰 晤 士 小 chinese thames town : 鎮 value of replication M A ( R C H ) D I S S E RTAT I O N Newcastle University Jing Olyvia Tam 170244440

10,885 words (excluding acknowledgements, list of illustrations, abbreviations, footnote references, and bibliography)

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abstract Designing buildings and towns based on pre-existing designs often splits opinions. Whilst debates around architectural replication are common, it is frequently adopted by Chinese developers and planners. This dissertation seeks to explore the value of architectural replication and how it contributes to the Chinese community, ultimately studying how it can be perceived as a tool to establish a new-found Chinese identity. Thames Town, a replica of an English village in Shanghai, is studied to shed light on the significance of replication to the Chinese context. This analysis identifies three categories: replication as a means to rewrite history, to denote culture, and to compete on the global stage. It reveals that replication prompted a new connection between inhabitants and their built environment, enabled the construction of an ideal town reflective of cultural values and middle class desires, and streamlined construction processes that gave rise to unprecedented urban development. The Chinese ‘copycat culture’ is examined against European theories of simulacrum and hyperreality to frame a collective cultural attitude and perception towards the practice of replication.

By investigating the symbolism behind Thames Town through a historical, cultural, and socioeconomic lens, the analysis highlights the value of architectural replication as a process of innovation to redefine one’s national identity.

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timeline IMPERIAL CHINA

REPUBLIC

221BC - 1912

1912 -

S U N YAT-S E N E R A 1912 T R E ATY P O RT / COLONIAL ERA 1840 -1943

the unequal treaties

1858 Treaty of Tientsin 1842

1860

Treaty of Nanking

Convention of Peking

1839 - 1842 F i r s t O p i u m Wa r

1 1856 - 1860 S e c o n d O p i u m Wa r

CHENGQIANG & SIHEYUAN (dynastic era)

LILONG (19th century)

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F o

OF CHINA

PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

- 1945

1945 - present

MAO ZEDONG ERA 1945 - 1976

1966

1999

Cultural Revolution

Shanghai Masterplan

Four Olds Campaign 2006 T h a m e s To w n completed

1978 Open Door Policy

1920s - 30s

Foreign construction of The Bund

2001 O n e C i t y N i n e To w n s DENG XIAOPING ERA 1978 - 1987

key events influencial eras prevalent urban

DANWEI

landscape

(Mao’s era)

structure

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contents

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Abstract Timeline Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Abbreviations

5 6 11 12 23

Chapter 1.0 : Introduction

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Chapter 2.0 : The Culture of Copy

31

Chapter 3.0 : Dissecting Thames Town 3.1 Face-Off in Shanghai 3.2 Road to Modernity 3.3 The English in a Chinese Town

43 44 50 56

Chapter 4.0 : Time for Change 4.1 A Means to Rewrite History 4.2 A Means to Denote Culture 4.3 A Means to Compete on the Global Stage

67 68 80 90

Chapter 5: Conclusion

97

Bibliography

102

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acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity thank my supervisor Josep-Maria Garcia-Fuentes for the valuable guidance and discussions that were extended to me.

I am grateful to my parents for the continuous support throughout researching and writing this dissertation, and for giving me the opportunity to pursue architecture at Newcastle University.

Last but not least, I would like to thank Robb for his constant encouragement and patience, and for always believing in me.

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list of illustrations Fig. 1: Shanghai skyline Brook, Daniel, ‘Head of the Dragon: The Rise of New Shanghai’, Places Journal, February 2013 <https://doi.org/10.22269/130218> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 2: TT Tudor & brick facade Zeveloff, Julie, ‘Welcome To The Bizarre Chinese Ghost Town That Looks Like It Was Plucked From The British Countryside’, Insider, June 14 2011 <https://www.businessinsider.com/china-ghost-cityenglish-town-2011-6?r=US&IR=T> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 3: 1970s Disneyworld Main Street Wynne, Sharon Kennedy, ‘For Disney World’s 50th anniversary, a look back at the Mouse that changed Florida’, Tampa Bay Times, 27 September 2021, <https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/ entertainment/theme-parks/2021/09/27/for-disney-worlds-50thanniversary-look-back-at-the-mouse-that-changed-florida/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 4: 1970s Disneyworld Christmas Parade 1 Rasmussen, Nate, ‘Vintage Walt Disney World: A 1970s Look at the Christmas Parade’, Walt Disney World Resorts; Disney Parks Blogs, 20 December 2018, <https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/ blog/2012/12/vintage-walt-disney-world-a-1970s-look-at-thechristmas-parade/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 5: 1970s Disneyworld Christmas Parade 2 Rasmussen, Nate, ‘Vintage Walt Disney World: A 1970s Look at the Christmas Parade’, Walt Disney World Resorts; Disney Parks Blogs, 20 December 2018, <https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/ blog/2012/12/vintage-walt-disney-world-a-1970s-look-at-thechristmas-parade/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 6: Illustration of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave \Waetjen, Herman, ‘Plato’s Allegory of the Cave: Variations on Liberation and Enlightenment’, University of Redlands, 31 July 2018, <https://www.redlands.edu/study/schools-and-centers/gst/ sfts-alumni/continue-your-education/hermans-hermeneutics/ platos-allegory-of-the-cave-variations-on-liberation-andenlightenment/> [accessed 23 December 2021]

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Fig. 7: Chinese Philosopher Laozi Dean, Tim, ‘Big Thinkers: Laozi and Zhuangzi’, The Ethics Centre, 25

June

2019,

<https://ethics.org.au/big-thinkers-laozi-and-

zhuangzi/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 8: Laozi’s writings on Daoism 鮮于樞, and 趙孟頫, 道德經 (Hong Kong: 商務印書館 [香港] 有限公司, 2002) p.70 Fig. 9: Chinese calligraphy of the character Dao The International Daoist Society, ‘Calligraphy’, Zhao Yuanfu: Movement in Stillness – Yin and Yang Action, 18 March 2013 <https://zhaoyuanfu.wordpress.com/2013/03/18/calligraphy/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 10: Terrell Davis’ artwork on shanzai culture Disnovation.org, ‘SHANZHAI ARCHEOLOGY’, Disnovation.org, n.d. <https://disnovation.org/shanzhai.php> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 11: Diagram summarizing the Chinese & European perceptions of the ‘copy’ By the author (2022) Fig. 12: Watercolour painting of First Opium War 1 Royal Collection Trust [online]. STODDART, JAMES (C.18171892) Views of China: attack of batteries at Woosung c.1842. In Royal

Collection

Trust

[n.d.],

<https://www.rct.uk/collection/

search#/1/collection/920271/views-of-china-attack-of-batteriesat-woosung> [accessed 25 January 2022]

Fig. 13: Watercolour painting of First Opium War 2 Royal Collection Trust [online]. STODDART, JAMES (C.1817-1892) Destruction of war-junks and arsenal, Chappoo c.1842. In Royal Collection Trust [n.d.], <https://www.rct.uk/collection/search#/2/ collection/920270/destruction-of-war-junks-and-arsenalchappoo> [accessed 25 January 2022]

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Fig. 14: Depiction of the signing of The Treaty of Nanking Royal Collection Trust [online]. AFTER PLATT, JOHN (FL.1846) Signing of the Treaty of Nanking. 29 Aug 1842. published 20 Apr 1846. In Royal Collection Trust [n.d.], <https://www.rct.uk/ collection/751141/signing-of-the-treaty-of-nanking-29-aug-1842> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 15: Neoclassical architecture along The Bund Liu, Cary Y., ‘Encountering the Dilemma of Change in the Architectural and Urban History of Shanghai’, in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 73 (2014), 118-136 <https:// www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jsah.2014.73.1.118> [accessed 8 July 2021] (p.119) Fig. 16: Map of Sun Yat-Sen’s plan to construct a New Bund Liu, Cary Y., ‘Encountering the Dilemma of Change in the Architectural and Urban History of Shanghai’, in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 73 (2014), 118-136 <https:// www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/jsah.2014.73.1.118> [accessed 8 July 2021] (p.129) Fig. 17: Propaganda for Mao’s collectivization policies Brown, Clayton D., ‘China’s Great Leap Forward’, in Education about Asia, 17(2012), 29-34 <https://www.asianstudies.org/wpcontent/uploads/chinas-great-leap-forward-1.pdf> [accessed 25 January 2022] (p.31) Fig. 18: Introduction of tractors during collectivization Louisa Lim, ‘A Grim Chronicle Of China’s Great Famine’, WAMU 88.5 American University Radio, 10 November 2012, <https:// wamu.org/story/12/11/10/a_grim_chronicle_of_chinas_great_ famine/> [accessed 23 January 2022]

Fig. 19: Masterplans leading up to Shanghai Masterplan Den Hartog, Harry ‘Urbanization in the Countryside’, in Shanghai New Towns: Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis /上海新城：追寻蔓延都市里的社区和身份, ed. by Harry den Hartog, and Jiang Jun (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2010) pp.7-42. (p.15).

Fig. 20: Diagram of ‘anti-magnetic’ force By the author (2022)

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Fig. 21: Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City Nairn,

Daniel,

‘Ebenezer

Howard’s

Garden

City

concept’,

Smart Cities Dive, n.d., <https://www.smartcitiesdive.com/ex/ sustainablecitiescollective/ebenezer-howards-garden-cityconcept/9045/> [accessed 23 January 2022] Fig. 22: Map of OCNT locations By the author (2022) – adapted from map found in: Wu, Fulong, ‘A Governance Perspective on New Towns in China’, New Towns for the Twenty-First Century: A Guide to Planned Communities Worldwide, ed. by Ann Forsyth, and Richard Peiser (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021) p.159.

Fig. 23: Map of SNT By the author (2022) – adapted from map found in: Shen, Jie, and Wu, Fulong, ‘The Development of Master-Planned Communities in Chinese Suburbs: A Case Study of Shanghai’s Thames Town’, in Urban Geography, 33 (2012), 183-2013 <https://doi.org/10.2747/02723638.33.2.183> [accessed 1 March 2021] (p.192) Fig. 24: TT marketing poster Sorkin, Michael, ‘Bull in China’s Shop’, The Nation, 4 February 2014<https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/bull-chinasshop/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 25: Replica of Christ Church AD Editorial Team, ‘“Potemkin Villages” Expose a World of Architectural Fakery’, Archdaily, 7 November 2017 <https://www. archdaily.com/882833/these-potemkin-villages-display-a-worldof-architectural-fakery> [accessed 23 January 2022] Fig. 26: Statue of Harry Potter Chakroff, Evan, ‘100822 - Thames Town’, flickr, 22 August 2010 <https: //www.flickr.com/photos/evandagan/4915903846/in/ album-72157624655214763/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 27: TT historic center Henriot, Carine, and Minost, Martin, ‘Thames Town, an English Cliché’, China Perspectives, 2017/1 (2017), 79-86 <http://journals. openedition.org/chinaperspectives/7216> [accessed 31 May 2021] (p.81) Fig. 28: Statue of Winston Churchill Darlington, John, Fake Heritage: Why We Rebuild Monuments

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(London: Yale University Press, 2020) p.81.

Fig. 29: Red telephone box Henriot, Carine, and Minost, Martin, ‘Thames Town, an English Cliché’, China Perspectives, 2017/1 (2017), 79-86 <http://journals. openedition.org/chinaperspectives/7216> [accessed 31 May 2021] (p.83) Fig. 30: TT public square Tahir, Tariq, ‘CHINESE FAKEAWAY Stunning pics show quaint English riverside town with cobbled streets and red phone boxes… but it’s actually in China’, The Sun, 9 September 2019 <https://www. thesun.co.uk/news/9890970/china-village-modelled-england/> [accessed 23 January 2022] Fig. 31: Caddy’s business in Lyme Regis Mulcahey, Jennifer, ‘Rock Point Inn and Cobb Gate Fish Bar sold to St Austell Brewery’, Lyme & Regis Bridport News, 30 November 2018 <https://www.bridportnews.co.uk/news/17268314.rock-pointinn-cobb-gate-fish-bar-sold-st-austell-brewery/>

[accessed 23

January 2022] Fig. 32: TT’s replica of Caddy’s businesses Oakes, Tim, ‘More on mimesis: China as Europe’s back-up disc’, geography3822, 18 October 2011 <https://geography3822. wordpress.com/2011/10/18/more-on-mimesis-china-as-europesback-up-disc/> [accessed 23 January 2022] Fig. 33: Fish & chip shop transitioned into clothing store Stoddard, Michael, ‘Dorset pub owner visits Chinese ‘copy’ in Shanghai’s Thames Town’, BBC News, 4 December 2012 <https:// www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-20595638>

[accessed

23 January 2022] Fig. 34: Remnants of fish & chip shop name Stoddard, Michael, ‘Dorset pub owner visits Chinese ‘copy’ in Shanghai’s Thames Town’, BBC News, 4 December 2012 <https:// www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-20595638>

[accessed

23 January 2022] Fig. 35: Map of TT layout By the author (2022), adapted from map found in: Henriot, Carine, and Minost, Martin, ‘Thames Town, an English Cliché’, China Perspectives, 2017/1 (2017), 79-86 <http://journals.openedition.org/

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chinaperspectives/7216> [accessed 31 May 2021] (p.82) Fig. 36: Wedding couple with church 1 Miller, Lisa, ‘Fake English Town In China: Deserted ‘Thames Town’ Is Abandoned... Minus The Newlyweds’, HUFFPOST, 7 December 2017

<https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/fake-english-

town-in-china_n_3907820> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 37: Wedding couple with church 2 Miller, Lisa, ‘Fake English Town In China: Deserted ‘Thames Town’ Is Abandoned... Minus The Newlyweds’, HUFFPOST, 7 December 2017

<https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/fake-english-

town-in-china_n_3907820> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 38: Woman posing in front of ‘Cob Gate Fish Bar’ Miller, Lisa, ‘Fake English Town In China: Deserted ‘Thames Town’ Is Abandoned... Minus The Newlyweds’, HUFFPOST, 7 December 2017

<https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/fake-english-

town-in-china_n_3907820> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 39: Tudor façade Chakroff, Evan, ‘100822 - Thames Town’, flickr, 22 August 2010 <https: //www.flickr.com/photos/evandagan/4915903846/in/ album-72157624655214763/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 40: Victorian façade Tahir, Tariq, ‘CHINESE FAKEAWAY Stunning pics show quaint English riverside town with cobbled streets and red phone boxes… but it’s actually in China’, The Sun, 9 September 2019 <https://www. thesun.co.uk/news/9890970/china-village-modelled-england/> [accessed 23 January 2022] Fig. 41: Red brick industrial facade Tahir, Tariq, ‘CHINESE FAKEAWAY Stunning pics show quaint English riverside town with cobbled streets and red phone boxes… but it’s actually in China’, The Sun, 9 September 2019 <https://www. thesun.co.uk/news/9890970/china-village-modelled-england/> [accessed 23 January 2022] Fig. 42: Plan of a typical chengqiang grid and wards Nieuwenhuis, Marijin, ‘Tracing the politics of space in One City and Nine Towns’, in Shanghai New Towns: Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis /上海新城：追寻蔓延都市里 的社区和身份, ed. by Harry den Hartog, and Jiang Jun (Rotterdam,

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010 Publishers, 2010) pp.291-304 (p.297).

Fig. 43: European ‘gridiron’ structure implemented by the British Non, Arkaraprasertku, ‘Placing Shanghai: Housing, Heritage, and the Conflicts over Contested Urban Space’, New Mandala; Australian National University, 11 April 2012, <https://www. newmandala.org/placing-shanghai/> [Accessed 27 October 2021] Fig. 44: Lilong layout By the author (2022) – adapted from drawing found in: Arkaraprasertku, Non, ‘Placing Shanghai: Housing, Heritage, and the Conflicts over Contested Urban Space’, New Mandala; Australian National University, 11 April 2012, <https://www. newmandala.org/placing-shanghai/> [Accessed 27 October 2021] Fig. 45: Appropriation of lilong alley Bracken, Gregory, ‘The Shanghai lilong. A new concept of home in China’, International Institute for Asian Studies, The Newsletter 86 Summer 2020, <https://www.iias.asia/the-newsletter/article/ shanghai-lilong-new-concept-home-china>

[Accessed

27

October 2021] Fig. 46: Photograph of youths sent to the rural to be re-educated Ou, Jason, ‘7 questions about China’s Cultural Revolution answered’, The Straits Times, 13 May 2016 <https://www. straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/7-questions-about-chinascultural-revolution-answered> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 47: Plan of Soviet superblocks imposed on Chinese landscape Lu, Duanfang, Remaking Chinese Urban Form: Modernity, Scarcity, and Space, 1949-2005 (Abington: Routledge, 2005) p.32.

Fig. 48: Typical danwei plan Nieuwenhuis, Marijin, ‘Tracing the politics of space in One City and Nine Towns’, in Shanghai New Towns: Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis /上海新城：追寻蔓延都市里 的社区和身份, ed. by Harry den Hartog, and Jiang Jun (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2010) pp.291-304 (p.297).

Fig. 49: Example of Mao’s buildings 1 Wemheuer, Felix, ‘1 - Chinese Society under Mao: Classifications, Social Hierarchies and Distribution’, in A Social History of

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Maoist China: Conflict and Change, 1949–1976, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2019) pp. 15-47, DOI: https://doi. org/10.1017/9781316421826 (p.27).

Fig. 50: Example of Mao’s buildings 2 Lu, Duanfang, Remaking Chinese Urban Form: Modernity, Scarcity, and Space, 1949-2005 (Abington: Routledge, 2005) p.58.

Fig. 51: People burning a plaque with a saying commending teachers Ou, Jason, ‘7 questions about China’s Cultural Revolution answered’, The Straits Times, 13 May 2016 <https://www. straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/7-questions-about-chinascultural-revolution-answered> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 52: Buddha statue defaced with slogans, ‘Destroy the Old’ and ‘Establish a new world’ Colarossi, Natalie, ‘Temples, opera, and braids: Photos reveal what China looked like before the Cultural Revolution’, Insider, 4 March 2020 <https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-chinabefore-communism-cultural-revolution?r=US&IR=T>

[accessed

25 January 2022] Fig. 53: Summary timeline of urban landscape By the author (2022) Fig. 54: Siheyuan layout By the author (2022) – adapted from image found in: Pang, Kelly, ‘Siheyuan - Chinese Courtyards’, China Highlights, updated 26 January

2022

<https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/

architecture/siheyuan.htm> [accessed 23 January 2022] Fig. 55: ANT residential blocks Den Hartog, Harry, and Jiang, Jun, ‘Pilot Cities and Towns’, in Shanghai New Towns: Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis /上海新城：追寻蔓延都市里的社区和身份, ed.

by Harry den Hartog, and Jiang Jun (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2010) pp.64-184 (p.85).

Fig. 56: ANT competition entry masterplan AS+P [online]. Anting New Town. In AS+P [n.d.], <https://www. as-p.com/projects/project/anting-new-town-20/show/> [accessed 25 January 2022]

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Fig. 57: Pseudo gates 1 Yang, Xifan, ‘A German Ghost Town in the Heart of China’, SPIEGEL International, 12 October 2011 <https://www.spiegel. de/international/world/management-disaster-a-german-ghosttown-in-the-heart-of-china-a-791392.html> [accessed 27 January 2022] Fig. 58: Pseudo gates 2 Hassenpflug, Dieter, The Urban Code of China (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2012) p.99.

Fig. 59: Idealized & realized ANT Nolli diagrams By the author (2022) – adapted from drawings found in: Hassenpflug, Dieter, The Urban Code of China (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2012) p.97.

Fig. 60: Zoomed-in ANT competition entry masterplan (left) AS+P [online]. Anting New Town. In AS+P [n.d.], <https://www. as-p.com/projects/project/anting-new-town-20/show/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 61: Realized ANT masterplan (right) AS+P [online]. Anting New Town. In AS+P [n.d.], <https://www. as-p.com/projects/project/anting-new-town-20/show/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 62: Parti diagram of ANT & TT layout By the author (2022) – adapted from drawings found in: Hassenpflug, Dieter, The Urban Code of China (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2012) p.108.

Fig. 63: Creating enclosure through vegetation walls & lake Zoe,

‘Thames

Town’,

flickr,

4

January

2012

<https://

www. f l i c k r.co m /p h o to s /6 1 70 9 24 6 @ N 0 8 /6 6 3 8 6 1 7 7 2 9/ i n / album-72157628743610977/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 64: Guards dressed as Yeoman Warders Bosker, Bianca, Original Copies: Architectural Mimicry in Contemporary China (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2013) p.38.

Fig. 65: TT’s Victorian row houses Hassenpflug, Dieter, The Urban Code of China (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2012) p.106.

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Fig. 66: London South Kensington facades Vesper Group [online]. South Kensington area guide. In Vesper Group [n.d.], <https://vespergroup.co.uk/area/south-kensington/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 67: Defined archway threshold 1 Sometimes Interesting [online]. Thames Town: an English Town in China. In Sometimes Interesting [n.d.], <https://sometimesinteresting.com/thames-town-english-town-in-china> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 68: Defined archway threshold 2 James Bollen, ‘Shanghai’s European-style ghost towns – in pictures’, The Guardian, 23 July 2015 <https://www.theguardian. com/cities/gallery/2015/jul/23/shanghai-china-european-styleghost-towns-in-pictures> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 69: TT facades exhibiting mouldings & arches Sometimes Interesting [online]. Thames Town: an English Town in China. In Sometimes Interesting [n.d.], <https://sometimesinteresting.com/thames-town-english-town-in-china> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 70: Elevation of TT buildings Den Hartog, Harry, ‘Shanghai as an Urban Experiment, in Shanghai New Towns: Searching for community and identity in a sprawling metropolis /上海新城：追寻蔓延都市里的社区和身份, ed.

by Harry den Hartog, and Jiang Jun (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2010) pp.63-80 (p.71).

Fig. 71: Tudor facade under construction Chakroff, Evan, ‘100822 - Thames Town’, flickr, 22 August 2010 <https: //www.flickr.com/photos/evandagan/4915903846/in/ album-72157624655214763/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 72: Thin layer of bricks over concrete frame Bryant, Kenzie, ‘This Is the Fake European Town That Exists Entirely for Chinese Wedding Portraits’, RACKED, 12 June 2013 <https:// www.racked.com/2013/6/12/7665515/top-this-chinese-weddingphotos-set-in-replica-euro-towns> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 73: Cluster of concrete buildings in China Allian, Rhett, ‘How Much Cement Has China Used?’, WIRED, 18 June 2014 <https://www.wired.com/2014/06/how-much-cement-

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has-china-used/> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig. 74: Orthogonal concrete frame 1 Bologna, Alberto, Chinese Brutalism today: Concrete and AvantGarde Architecture (New York: Oro Editions, 2019) p.14.

Fig. 75: Orthogonal concrete frame 2 Bologna, Alberto, Chinese Brutalism today: Concrete and AvantGarde Architecture (New York: Oro Editions, 2019) p.15.

Fig. 76: Tudor facade with bamboo scaffolding Zeveloff, Julie, ‘Welcome To The Bizarre Chinese Ghost Town That Looks Like It Was Plucked From The British Countryside’, Insider, June 14 2011 <https://www.businessinsider.com/china-ghost-cityenglish-town-2011-6?r=US&IR=T> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig.77: Replica of Christ Church 2 AD Editorial Team, ‘“Potemkin Villages” Expose a World of Architectural Fakery’, Archdaily, 7 November 2017 <https://www. archdaily.com/882833/these-potemkin-villages-display-a-worldof-architectural-fakery> [accessed 23 January 2022] Fig. 78: Tudor facades Daily Mail Reporter, ‘Black and white buildings, red phone boxes and even a village pub... remind you of anywhere? Yep, it’s China’, Daily Mail, 6 May 2013 <https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ article-2320147/The-quaint-English-market-community-thats-5700-miles-place-Thames-Town-China-ultimate-cultural-knockoff.html> [accessed 25 January 2022] Fig.79: End cover page AD Editorial Team, ‘“Potemkin Villages” Expose a World of Architectural Fakery’, Archdaily, 7 November 2017 <https://www. archdaily.com/882833/these-potemkin-villages-display-a-worldof-architectural-fakery> [accessed 23 January 2022]

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abbreviations One City Nine Towns Thames Town Songjiang New Town Oxford English Dictionary Shanghai Henghe Real Estate Co. Ltd Anting New Town Albert Speer & Partner

OCNT TT SNT OED SHRE ANT AS&P

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24

chapter 1.0 introduction

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Fig. 1: Shanghai skyline

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Architect Felix Madrazo adequately asks the question, ‘How bad is it to copy something “good”?’ 1 Seen as an immoral crutch to the generation of new ideas, architectural replication is often met with criticism.2 It is perceived as a challenge to the purity of originality, exemplifying a practice of dishonesty.3 Whilst this may be the common perception in the West,4 replication is often incorporated in Chinese urban design and planning. Reflective of Chinese pragmatism, it serves as a useful tool to learn from other places who have already established a successful precedent.5

1

Felix Madrazo, ‘Copy Right’,

in Copy Paste: The Badass Architecture Copy Guide, ed.

Winy Mass and Felix Madrazo (Rotterdam: nai010 publishers, 2017) pp.38-67 (p.38).

2

Petra, Bower, and Matteo,

Kujipers ‘Originality Is a Waste’, in Copy Paste: The Badass Architecture Copy Guide, ed.

Winy Mass and Felix Madrazo (Rotterdam: nai010 publishers, 2017) pp.98-103 (p.98).

Prime examples of this are the replica towns in contemporary China, specifically those within the One City Nine Towns (OCNT) development plan (2001). The scheme sought to decongest Shanghai’s city center by urbanizing suburbs, leading to the proposal of ten new towns. Under this scheme, each town was themed after a specific European city. This was met by disdain by both western and Chinese critics; western critics claimed it a form of ‘auto-colonization’,6 and Chinese critics stated that the towns stem from insecurity and are shameful manifestations of Chinese culture.7 As someone born and raised in Hong Kong (a melting pot of British and Chinese cultures), yet with a British education, I can understand both the Western and Chinese perspective towards replication. In western educational settings, copying is synonymous with plagiarism. Yet, I can also acknowledge the Chinese viewpoint of copying to exhibit a mastery of knowledge and skill – to be able to replicate denotes the full comprehension of what is being taught. Thus, informing my interest to explore replication through an architectural lens.

3

Ibid.

4

Ibid.

5

Francesca

Maria,

Piazzoni,

and Tridib, Banerjee, ‘Mimicry in design: the urban form of development’, Journal of Urban Design, 23 (2017), 482498 <https://doi.org/10.1080/13 574809.2017.1383151> [accessed 1 March 2021] (p.489).

6

Harry, den Hartog, ‘Searching

for Community and Identity’, in

Shanghai

Searching

New

for

Towns:

community

and identity in a sprawling metropolis /上海新城：追寻蔓延 都市里的社区和身份, ed. by Harry den Hartog, and Jiang Jun (Rotterdam:

010

Publishers,

2010) pp.369-392 (p.382).

7

Bianca,

Bosker,

Original

Copies: Architectural Mimicry

Seeing that my cultural background embodies a sense of Anglo-Chinese hybridity, I took a specific interest in Thames Town (TT; 泰晤士小鎮), the English replica town within OCNT. My familiarity with both cultural contexts has allowed me to identify nuanced aspects within the Chinese replication process and translate them throughout the analysis. TT was

in

Contemporary

China

(Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2013) p.12.

1.0 Introduction

27

also chosen due to the various changes made to OCNT in its development. As many towns failed to come to fruition, TT became the leading replica town for the scheme. Despite many claims that TT has developed into a tourist destination with its English novelty, TT functions as a residential neighborhood with mixed-use facilities at its core.

This dissertation is rooted in exploring the various ways TT exemplifies architectural replication as a tool for establishing national identity. Whereas existing research on replica towns focuses on critiquing the originality of such replicas or the practice of replication itself, the focus of this analysis is to investigate what replication offers to the Chinese community by studying their national value. This will be explored through China’s historical, cultural, and socioeconomic context to reveal how the replication in TT contributes to cultivating a Chinese identity. The Chinese culture of copy will be discussed and contrasted against European theories to understand why replication is deemed more acceptable in the Chinese society. By doing so, it will negotiate between the opposing views towards replication and provide a more balanced perspective.

Research methods mainly concern archival research through well-documented literature. Publications by Bianca Bosker (journalist and author) and Wade Shepard (writer and filmmaker) have been particularly significant due to their documentation of personal journeys through TT. As will be discussed throughout, a notable feature of TT is the replication of intangible aspects, such as atmospheric qualities and the relationship between buildings and the streetscape. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, attaining first-hand accounts of TT were challenging.

Hence, Bosker’s and Shepard’s experiences have been paramount in understanding the town. Their interactions with stakeholders have been beneficial to understanding the intentions and reception of TT. Photographic documentation and maps of TT were also studied to highlight its spatial organization. Maps and drawings of prevalent historical residential typologies were analyzed to understand the urban landscape evolution, illustrating how the traditional Chinese city operates and how it informed 28

the design of TT. Furthermore, my bilingualism has allowed me to incorporate Chinese texts, including Daoist writings that predicated the Chinese replication framework. This helped me recognize subtle nuances within different Chinese schools of thought that have informed collective societal mindsets and attitudes.

Fig. 2: TT Tudor & brick facade

1.0 Introduction

29

30

chapter 2.0 the culture of copy

31

‘Copy’

8

English

in

The

Oxford

Dictionary

[online],

<https://www.oed.com/view/ Entry/41299?rskey=84oeiB& result=1&isAdvanced=false# eid>

[accessed

17

January

2022].

9

Ibid.

10

Anne-Catrin, Schultz, ‘Is fake

the new real? Searching for an

architectural

reality’,

in

Real and Fake in Architecture: Close to the Original, Far from Authenticity, ed. Anne-Catrin Schultz (Stuttgart: Edition Axel Menges, 2020) pp.16-65 (p.16).

11

12

Ibid.

Genevieve Generaux, ‘Jean

Baudrillard The

(1929-)’

University

of

[online].

Chicago,

Theories of Media; Keyword Glossary [n.d.]. Available from: <https: //csmt.uchicago.edu/ g l o s s a r y 2 0 0 4 / b a u d r i l l a rd . htm> [accessed 29 November 2021].

13

Nicholas,

Oberly,

‘reality,

(1)’

[online].

hyperreality The

University

of

Chicago,

Theories of Media; Keyword Glossary from:

[2003].

Available

<https://csmt.

uchicago.edu/glossary2004/ realityhyperreality.htm

>

[accessed 29 November 2021].

32

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) defines ‘copy’ as the reproduction of an original, with one entry specifying ‘without reference to the original’.8 Though most entries hold a neutral connotation, the quotations included as further elaboration do not. John Ruskin wrote ‘Never buy a copy of a picture... All copies are bad; because no painter who is worth a straw ever will copy.’9 In reality, defining ‘copy’ is no simple task, as different perspectives exist on how exact a reproduction needs to be to qualify as a copy. It tends to be associated with ‘fake’, which OED defines as ‘intended to deceive’.10 ‘Copy’ and ‘fake’ are often pitted against terms such as, ‘original’ and ‘real’ to indicate binary opposition between them, although defining these terms is complex. Architect Anne-Catrin Schultz highlights that the criteria defining an object as ‘fake’ coincides with ‘the essence of an object’, whereas one would look to an object’s origin and function to define it as ‘real’.11 More significant to this discussion is how these terms are not just defined, but appropriated in different cultures. Postmodern theorists Jean Baudrillard and Umberto Eco will be drawn upon to illustrate the binary opposition between such terms commonly adopted in the West, and the Chinese perception towards copying will be discussed to present an alternative standpoint with less rigidity. As the replica towns are products born out of specific cultural practice, understanding the Chinese perspective is paramount for the analysis of TT. Theories of simulacrum and hyperreality often arise in debates about architectural replication, conveying feelings of apprehensiveness and fear. Baudrillard and Eco, have raised concerns regarding distinguishing copies from the original. Throughout their writings, the ‘real’ denotes reality, and ‘simulacra/simulacrum’ is the representation of reality, i.e. the copy. Baudrillard’s ideas focus on simulacra being the ‘endless repetition of images meant to “stand in” for signs of reality’.12 Baudrillard warns of the accumulation of simulacra (simulacrum) leading to the breakdown of reality and its representation.13 The simulacrum conceals

reality and renders it non-existent,14 eventually threatening the boundaries between the real and the representation.15 Baudrillard warns that hyperreality will occur when simulacrum has fully developed – the catastrophic condition where simulacrum replaces reality itself and there is no conscious ability to discern between the two.16 Eco shares similar concerns but emphasizes that reality will hold an inferior position against its imitation.17 He references his travels in Disneyland during the 1970s, suggesting that the curated fantastical landscape constructs a fictional reality more realistic than reality itself, bringing forth hyperreality. This results in what Eco deems as the ‘absolute fake’, where it ‘is a form of hyperreality in which a cultural artifact is perceived as an improved copy, more “real” than its original’.18 Eco worries that by constructing a copy of reality that reflects no flaws, society will inevitably prefer to live in this simulation, thus substituting reality for good.

Whilst both Baudrillard and Eco caution of the depletion of reality (focusing their commentary on America), there are differences in their definitions of hyperreality. Baudrillard sees hyperreality as the condition where the copy is no longer simply an imitation of an original, but an ‘endless chain of copies referring to each other’.19 Eco identifies hyperreality as the condition of the ‘absolute fake’,20 where copies do

Fig. 3: 1970s Disneyworld Main Street

14

Oberly, ‘reality, hyperreality

(1)’ 15

Jean, Baudrillard, Simulacra

and

Simulation,

trans.

by

Sheila Faria Glaser (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1994) p.3.

16

Oberly, ‘reality, hyperreality

(1)’ 17

Umberto,

Eco,

Travels

in

Hyperreality, trans. by William Weaver (San Diego: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1986) p.12.

18

Jaap, Kooijman, Fabricating

the Absolute Fake America in Contemporary Pop Culture (Amsterdam:

Amsterdam

University Press, 2003) p.12.

19

Ibid. p.17.

20

Ibid.

2.0 the culture of copy

33

not simply act as reproductions of reality but attempts to improve it.21

Fig. 4: 1970s Disneyworld Christmas Parade 1 Fig. 5: 1970s Disneyworld Christmas Parade 2

21

Kooijman, p.17.

22

Alex,

Gendler,

Allegory Alex

of

Gendler,

the

Plato’s Cave

online

–

video

recording, Youtube, 17 March 2015,

<https://www.youtube.

com/watch?v=1RWOpQXTltA> [accessed 23 December 2021].

23

Ibid.

24

Ibid.

25

The School of Life, PLATO

ON: The Forms, Online Video Recording, Youtube, 11 March 2016,

<https://www.youtube.

com/watch?v=MgotDFs6cdE> [accessed 24 December 2021].

26

Benjamin,

Jowett,

The

Allegory of the Cave by Plato (Los Angeles: Enhanced Media Publishing, 2017) p.9 27

34

Ibid.

These theories can be situated within wider philosophical concepts such as Plato’s Theory of Forms. This posits the existence of two realms – the physical being the world we live in, containing ever-changing tangible materialistic manifestations, and the spiritual consisting of ideal and abstract ideas that transcend the physical world’s concepts of time and space (e.g. justice, truth, beauty).22 Plato’s key argument is that everything we see and interact with in the physical world is a less-ideal imitation of a perfect version (the Form) in the spiritual world, deemed the ‘Realm of Forms’.23 Thus, the Form is the essence of all physical beings and objects. As the Form is aspatial and atemporal, it is deemed ‘perfect’ and solely exists through people’s minds.24 Thus, the possession of the Form of an object would ultimately guide one towards ‘perfection’; allowing the Form to be thought of as a blueprint.25 To illustrate this idea, Plato presents the Allegory of the Cave.

The scenario describes multiple prisoners being chained in a cave, their backs facing a parapet wall in front of a fire.26 Likened to a shadow puppet play, people carrying objects and animals would walk across the wall, casting shadows of varying shapes onto the wall facing the prisoners.27 As the prisoners have been chained since birth, the shadows they

see are all that they know of the world and are what they consider reality.28 Plato poses the question of their reaction when they are given the chance to turn around and see the world outside the cave.29 If one prisoner is freed, he/she will quickly realize that the shadows are simply shadows – reflections, or imitations of objects.30 If the prisoner returns to the cave and recounts the journey outside, the other prisoners will resist believing the freed prisoner, even resenting him/her as the stories will be considered nonsense.31 With this allegory, Plato critiques society’s comfort with familiarity and willingness to adopt ignorance to do so, but also resentment of oppositions to that familiarity.32 Applying this to architectural replication, the prisoners and shadows may represent theorists like Baudrillard and Eco. Despite the shadow and the outside world – the original and the copy – both being ‘real’, there is an immediate sense of protecting what is perceived to be pure and real to them and rejecting anything that threatens that. Furthermore, if Plato’s Theory of Forms is employed onto Baudrillard and Eco’s theories, it disputes the significance of the original. If the Form is the essence and idealized version of everything in existence, then what Baudrillard and Eco deem as the real/original is ultimately merely representations or copies of the Form itself.

28

Jowett, p.9.

Laura,

29

D’Olimpio,

‘Ethics

Explainer: Plato’s Cave’, The Ethics Centre, 18 March 2019, <https://ethics.org.au/ethicsexplainer-platos-cave/> [accessed 23 December 2021].

30

Ibid.

31

Ibid.

32

Gendler, Plato’s Allegory of

the Cave – Alex Gendler

Fig. 6: Illustration of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

2.0 the culture of copy

35

Fig. 7: Chinese Philosopher Laozi

33

Peter

Sean,

G., Kuan,

Encounters

Rowe,

and

Architectural with

Essence

and Form in Modern China (Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2002) p.3.

34

Bosker, p.29.

35

Ibid. p.27.

36

Ibid. p.28.

The Chinese approach towards replication echoes Plato’s arguments. Chinese culture draws upon Confucius’ philosophical values to serve as the basis for Chinese civilization.33 A school of thought heavily connected to Confucianism is Daoism, which embeds the idea of Dao and Qi. The Chinese believe that Dao is the life force of the universe (likened to Plato’s Form) and Qi is the spiritual energy running through all living beings. This is particularly relevant to architectural replication, as it is believed that if the simulacrum embodies the essence (Dao) of the original, the Qi from the original is transferred into the copy and is just as powerful.34 By capturing the essence, the copy would be able to elicit the same emotional response, becoming a legitimate replacement. The focus here pertains more towards one’s connection to the object’s essence, as opposed to whether the object is a replica.

The credibility associated with encapsulating essence is particularly notable in Chinese landscape paintings and writings. A story written by Wang Jian (military general) from the Qing Dynasty exemplifies this. He describes a Daoist woman visiting a hermit, Dongfang Xuan, and a woman who educated him on Daoist arts.35 As the hermit was busy, the two Daoist women started drawing landscape representations on the ground with their fingers, which then transformed into ‘real-life’ landscapes with a boat on a lake, surrounded with pine trees and bamboos.36 The two women were able to immerse themselves into this

36

landscape by traveling across the lake, one even threw a shoe into the lake which metamorphosed into another boat.37 As the representation successfully embodied the essence of a real landscape, it transfigured into a real landscape and ultimately became it. This exemplifies the Chinese perception of reality and the representation being ever-changing and evolving, one overlapping the other.

The clash between the European and Chinese theories is the hierarchal dynamic between the ‘real’ and the ‘representation’. Whilst Baudrillard and Eco are apprehensive about simulacrum advancing towards hyperreality, the Chinese are not concerned with defining where one ends and the other begins, reflecting the wider context of how Daoism understands the cosmos. The famous saying by Philosopher Laozi (老子) in Dao de Jing (道德經) expresses this: ‘Dao gives birth to one, one to two, two gives birth to three; and three gives birth to the tenthousand phenomena’.38 Laozi expresses that everything in the universe is interconnected and continuous, where ‘origin, existence, and reality are not static, finite, or whole’.39 Since the existence of reality and representation are thought to be bound in a continuous cycle, both giving rise to each other, the idea of origins is moot.

37

Bosker, p.28.

38

Laozi 老子, Dao de Jing 道德

經 (Mawangdui text, 197): cited in

Bianca,

Bosker,

Original

Copies: Architectural Mimicry in

Contemporary

China

(Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2013) p.29.

39

Bosker, p.29.

Fig. 8: Laozi’s writings on Daoism Fig. 9: Chinese calligraphy of the character Dao

2.0 the culture of copy

37

Cary Y., Liu, ‘Encountering

40

the in

Dilemma the

of

Change

Architectural

and

Urban History of Shanghai’, in Journal of the Society of Architectural 73

(2014),

Historians, 118-136

<https://

www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/ jsah.2014.73.1.118> [accessed 8 July 2021] (p.122).

41

Ibid

42

Ibid.

43

Geremie

R.,

Barmé,

An

Artistic Exile: A Life of Feng Zikai

(1898–1975)

(Berkeley:

This culture of acceptance surrounding merging the real and the representation is supported by architectural historian, Cary Y. Liu. He argues that in Chinese society, architecture is more connected to shared memory and ‘the word (wen 文)’ over its physical form.40 He states that ‘as long as societal or even individual memory endures, an edifice’s name and the poems and inscriptions associated with it can outlast its built reality’.41 C.Y. Liu draws on Liu Shilong’s ‘Record of the Garden That Is Not There’ (Wuyouyuan ji 烏有園記) from the Ming Dynasty, who commented that no physical form of past famous gardens stood the test of time aside from the writings about them.42 To combat this, Liu Shilong decided to build his own garden solely through his imagination, only existing in reality through words. He writes:

University of California Press, 2002) p. 214.

44

‘On its construction I neither need waste gold nor

Wen, Fong, ‘The Problem of

Forgeries in Chinese Painting,

expend effort… To build in reality is to be limited by reality itself; while a construction conceived only in the

Part One’, in Artibus Asiae

imagination suffers no constraint… My garden relies not

2/3,

95-119+121-

on form but on thought. It can be harmed neither by

<https://www.jstor.org/

wind nor rain, flood nor fire. Even if my descendants are

25

140

(1962),

stable/3249249> [accessed 5 December 2021] (p.103).

single plant or a tree.’43

45

Bosker, p.21.

46

Mark van den Ouden, ‘Copy

Right’, in Copy Paste: The Badass

Architecture

wastrels, they will not be able to give away so much as a

Copy

Whilst European theories often glorify the ‘real’, Liu Shilong’s garden further stresses the fluidity between the real and the representation, neither having superiority over the other.

Guide, ed. Winy Mass and Felix Madrazo (Rotterdam: nai010 publishers, (p.312).

38

2017)

pp.310-321

The focus placed by Chinese philosophy on replication as the process to extract that essence is particularly prominent.

Rather than criticizing replication as a means of plagiarism, the Chinese recognize it as a celebration of skill, craft, and technicality. Professor Wen Fong notes that the Chinese copy work system contains different categories of copying – ‘mu, to trace; lin, to copy; fang, to imitate; tsao, to invent’.44 These methods of copying ‘lie along a spectrum’, each holding varying degrees of value based on the way they are produced.45 This adoption of copying as an accepted method of reproduction has been manifested countlessly, dating back to dynastic China. Emperors have often made reconstructions of colossal imperial gardens filled with exotic plants and animals imported from all over the world as a way to exert their supremacy.46 Using replication to

manifest power is further demonstrated by how Qin dynasty emperors would purposefully reconstruct their enemies’ landmarks and landscapes.47 This is intended to convey the emperor’s ascendancy towards world domination – the ability to own the world, to reconfigure it, to ‘“move mountains” and alter the order of the cosmos as he sees fit’.48

Fig. 10: Terrell Davis’

This practice of expressing capability through replication is also present in modern-day society. This is shown most evidently through the shanzai culture (山寨), the Chinese practice of manufacturing knock-off goods.49 Shanzai began following the opening of the Chinese economy in 1978, where the emerging middle class looked to Western luxury goods to display their newly found wealth.50 This triggered the ‘copycat’ market to flourish, ranging from electronics, designer handbags, appliances etc. Whilst it begun as simply replicating Western designs, shanzai has now advanced into not only copying Western products but altering them to ‘tailor-fit’ the Chinese audience.51 The copied goods have on occasion ‘outperformed’ the original models – e.g. enabling multiple SIM cards to be integrated into one phone – increasing desirability and ultimately becoming legitimate brands in their own right.52 Today’s shanzai seeks to make improvements on existing models

artwork on shanzai culture

47

Van den Ouden, p.312.

48

Bosker, p.32.

49

Van den Ouden, p.312-313.

50

Ibid. p.312.

51

Ibid. p.313.

52

Ibid.

2.0 the culture of copy

39

53

Van den Ouden, p.313.

by applying innovative changes to better address the newly wealthy Chinese market.53 Fig. 11 can be used to visually summarize the discussion surrounding perceptions of replication. Baudrillard and Eco reject the copy as an inferior deviation, diluting the original and threatening the two being indistinguishable. In contrast, Plato and the Chinese negotiate this duality by exploring the continuous fluidity that connects them. They place the copy on par as the original, both as imperfect imitations of the Form/Dao: if the copy can seize the essence of the original, it is then equidistant to the Form/Dao as is the original. This suggests that the key to understanding the meaning of replication is recognizing the Form/Dao at the center of the copy.

Given the culturally specific nuances of how the Chinese regard replication, it is imperative that any analysis of TT needs to be informed and discussed within the Chinese replication framework. This allows the focus of inquiry to be an investigation into how this practice is contributing towards the Chinese society, rather than a discussion concerning the pitfalls or merits of replication.

40

Fig. 11: Diagram summarizing the Chinese & European perceptions of the ‘copy’ 2.0 the culture of copy

41

42

chapter 3.0 setting the scene

43

Considering replica towns involve the transposition of foreign landscapes, it is crucial to familiarize oneself with the interactions between China and Western foreign powers.

As TT is a replica English town, this chapter will examine Shanghai’s Anglo-Chinese colonial past to highlight the origin of cross-cultural tensions, provide a summary of the economic and political conditions giving rise to OCNT, and illustrate the ways in which TT aims to convey a sense of English novelty.

3.1 Face-off in Shanghai

54

Liu, p.118.

55

Ibid

56

Ibid.

Gregory,

57

Bracken,

‘Treaty

Ports in China: Their Genesis, Development, and Influence’, in Journal of Urban History, 45 (2019), 168-176 <https://doi. org/10.1177/0096144218816548> [accessed

12

October

2021]

(p.168).

58

Ibid.

59

Rowe, and Kwan, p.2.

60

Bracken,

in

China:

‘Treaty Their

Ports Genesis,

Development, and Influence’, p.168.

61

Liu, p.118.

Whilst now the face of Chinese metropolis, Shanghai originated as a small fishing village.54 Shanghai’s assumingly small village demeanor should not be underestimated, as its proximity to the Yangtze River and the Grand Central, and central location to various overseas trade routes, propelled its development as a leading trade port.55 Shanghai’s control of the seas enabled it to become ‘one of the world’s leading ports, with shipping rivaling or surpassing that of contemporary London’.56 This inevitably attracted British hostility, resulting in the First and Second Opium War (18391842 & 1856-1860).57 The Chinese defeat prompted the signing of the Treaty of Nanking (1842), Treaty of Tientsin (1858), and Convention of Peking (1860) – all three collectively known as the ‘unequal treaties’.58 The Treaty of Nanking was pivotal in solidifying the Anglo-Chinese conflict and prompted the later war and treaties, escalating hostilities.59 The main terms of the treaty concerned ceding Hong Kong Island to the British, along with five treaty ports – Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Ningbo, and Shanghai – further developing British and other foreign trade routes into China.60 It also granted extra-territoriality rights to those with ‘most favored nation status’,61 i.e. British nationals. This fabricated a society with prejudiced racial hierarchy and an unbalanced power dynamic.

One of the earliest and most blatant architectural manifestations of this tension is The Bund. Now known as a major promenade that runs along the Huangpu River, it once was a simultaneous symbol of pride and shame. As

44

Fig. 12: Watercolour painting of First Opium War 1

Fig. 13: Watercolour painting of First Opium War 2

3.0 setting the scene

45

Fig. 14: Depiction of the signing of The Treaty of Nanking

46

3.0 setting the scene

47

Fig. 15: Neoclassical architecture along The Bund

62

Campanella, Thomas J., The

Concrete

Dragon:

China’s

Urban Revolution and What it Means for the World (New York,

Princeton

University

Press, 2012) p.60.

63

much as foreign infrastructure provided advancements towards modernity such as, gas lighting, electric trams, and telegraphs, it also represented oppression and helplessness for the Chinese.62 C.Y. Liu expresses the significance of Shanghai’s proximity to the water: ‘Later efforts to reclaim the city as Chinese revolved around the ongoing encounter with, and control of, water, which helped define and redefine Shanghai in the cultural imagination. In the twentieth century, this fundamental encounter with water, along with

Ibid. p.119.

collisions between different cultural thought worlds, Christian,

64

Henriot,

‘The

Shanghai Bund in myth and history: an essay through textual and visual sources’, Journal of Modern Chinese History, 4:1

(2010),

1-27

<https://doi.

org/10.1080/1753565100377940 0> [accessed 18 october 2021] (p.11) 65

Liu, p.119

generated acculturative tensions that resulted in modes of adaptive, imitative, or reactive change.’63

The power of staking claim over the water meant inevitable construction along the waterfront. The 1920s and 30s gave rise to the exotic glamour associated with the Bund today.64 The cosmopolitanizing of Shanghai was demonstrated by the erection of many neoclassical and Art-Deco offices and hotels west of the river, exclusively designed by British architectural firms such as Palmer and Turner.65 Seen as symbols of subjugation, the Chinese devised plans to reclaim control. Known as the ‘father of modern China’ and founder of the Republic of China (1912-1949), Sun YatSen proposed to reroute Huangpu River and construct

48

the opposing bank to form a ‘New Bund’ under Chinese pretenses.66 Though this was not achieved until posteconomic reforms in 1990s, Mao Zedong approached this reclamation by destroying building cornerstones and purging foreign inscriptions to be replaced by Chinese names.67 Like shanzai, the existing foreign buildings were ‘improved’ upon through appropriation to refocus attention to Chinese heritage. This further emphasizes the power of ‘the word’ discussed previously, as re-branding foreign buildings was deemed a sufficient way to remove undesired history from collective memory.68 Standing across the neo-classical foreign architecture now sits the Lujiazui financial district consisting of a ‘steel-and-concrete skyline’,69 representing a new China. The literal ‘face-off’ between colonial and modern Shanghai not only displays the historic crosscultural tensions, but the connotations British architecture holds – ‘a model of strength to be emulated and at the same time a symbol of humiliation to be subdued or destroyed’.70

66

Liu, p.129.

67

Ibid.

68

Ibid.

69

Ibid. p.128.

70

Ibid. p.129.

Fig. 16: Map of Sun YatSen’s plan to construct a New Bund

3.0 setting the scene

49

3.2 Road to Modernity

71

Orville, Schell, and John Delury,

‘Chapter 6, A Sheet of Lose Sand: Sun Yat-Sen 1866-1925’ [online].

Wealth

and

Power:

China’s

Long March to the Twenty-First Century [n.d]. Available from: <http: //sites.asiasociety.org/ chinawealthpower/chapters/ sun-yat-sen/>

[accessed

01

January 2022] 72

Alastair, Donald, ‘Replication,

Replication, Replication’, Urban Design, 123 (2013), 32-34 <https:// www.udg.org.uk/sites/default/ f i l e s /p u b l i c a t i o n s / U D 1 2 7 _ magazine_lores.pdf>

[accessed

31 August 2021] (p.33).

73

Marijin, Nieuwenhuis, ‘Tracing

the politics of space in One City and Nine Towns’, in Shanghai New

Towns:

Searching

for

community and identity in a sprawling metropolis /上海新城： 追寻蔓延都市里的社区和身份,

As Western architecture has historically represented power and modernity, it frames replication as a natural process to achieve modernity, giving rise to OCNT. OCNT was heavily associated with Deng Xiaoping’s leadership, who is commonly perceived to be the catalyst of Chinese modernity over the last decade.

ed.

by Harry den Hartog, and Jiang

Being the successor from Mao’s authoritarian regime (19121949), Deng proposed economic reforms that sought to rectify Mao’s agricultural collectivization policies – The Great Leap Forward resulted in a catastrophic famine killing 30 million people.71 Despite these setbacks, the speed of China’s modernity is still unmatched and has grown exponentially over the last century. China has ‘seen more than 300 million migrants absorbed into metropolitan areas in the space of just 30 years’.72 Known for his slogan, ‘to get rich is to get glorious’,73 his revolutionary policies transformed the previously planned economy into a market economy.

Deng’s open-door policy embraced ideas of capitalism, breaking from Mao’s communist agenda and redefining Chinese identity.

Jun (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 2010) pp.291-304 (p.304).

Fig. 17: Propaganda for Mao’s collectivization policies 50

Fig. 18: Introduction of tractors during collectivization

1946

1953

OCNT was a part of Deng’s transformation of China, where he depicted Shanghai as ‘Head of the Dragon’ leading the nation to prosperity. The Shanghai Masterplan (1999) aimed to rebuild Shanghai within 21 years, embracing the motto ‘One dragon, four centers’.74 Shanghai was to be developed as the country’s financial and trade hub, as well as a ‘global hub of commerce worthy of its history’.75 Whilst Shanghai’s growth was unparalleled at the time,76 it also became increasingly congested, and those with city center addresses were deemed superior. Shepard emphasizes this through a conversation with a Shanghai doctoral student, who expressed that ‘educated people won’t relocate to such a remote area – they’ll run back to Beijing or Shanghai – we don’t work as hard as we do to end up in a cultural backwater!’77 As a result, the 1-9-6-6 plan was introduced as part of the Shanghai Masterplan, intended to decongest Shanghai’s city center by urbanizing Shanghai’s suburbs.78 Shanghai was elected as the central city, and 9 new satellite cities, 60 new towns, and 600 central villages circling Shanghai’s periphery was to be constructed.79 Serving as the pilot initiative for the 1-9-6-6 plan, the Municipality of

1959

Fig. 19: Masterplans leading up to Shanghai Masterplan

74

Wade, Shepard, Ghost Cities

of China: The Story of Cities Without People in the World’s Most

Populated

Country

(London: Zed Books, 2015) p.92 75

Ibid.

76

Liu, p.120.

77

Shepard, p.95.

78

Ibid.

79

Ibid.

Shanghai proposed the OCNT scheme (2001).

3.0 setting the scene

51

Fig. 20: Diagram of ‘anti-magnetic’ force

52

The main objective was to increase the ‘anti-magnetic force’ (fan cili) of Shanghai’s center,80 drawing out the middleclass city dwellers to migrate to the suburbs. The attempt to depopulate the city center through suburb urbanization sought to create a polycentric urban structure.81 OCNT’s structure of developing one city and nine satellite towns attempted to embody New Urbanism design principles established in the West.82 It drew inspiration from Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City and the Milton Keynes development (1960s).83 By doing so, it hoped to eradicate the problematic Chinese town model formulated by Mao – endless grids, repetitive skyscrapers, and non-pedestrian friendly streets, placing greater emphasis on greenery, human scale, and the interaction between building and street.84

80

Carine,

Martin,

Henriot, Minost,

Town,

an

China

Perspectives,

(2017),

and

‘Thames

English 79-86

Cliché’, 2017/1 <http://

journals.openedition.org/ chinaperspectives/7216> [accessed 31 May 2021] (p.80).

81

Ibid.

82

Ibid.

83

John,

Darlington,

Fake

Heritage: Why We Rebuild Monuments

(London:

Yale

University Press, 2020) p.80.

84

Ibid. p.82.

Fig. 21: Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City

3.0 setting the scene

53

Fig. 22: Map of OCNT locations

54

This resulted in Shanghai Mayor Zhu Ronji’s request for each town to embody a distinctive European identity to remove the ‘monotonous model of rural town construction’.85 Each was prescribed a themed region, modeled after specific European cities.86 Due to changes during the scheme’s implementation, many towns were replaced or removed from the scheme, and others were added. The below comprises an overview of the initial towns proposed, as well as the European style they aimed to imitate.

85

Piazzoni, and Banerjee,

(p.489).

86

Ibid.

Location

European Style

Songjiang New Town (SNT)

British

Fengjing New Town

Canadian

Zhujiajiao Town

Chinese Jiangnan

Anting New Town (ANT)

German

Luodian New Town

North European/ Swedish

Baozhen Town

Australian/North American

Gaoqiao Town

Dutch

Pujiang New Town

Italian

Zhoupo New Town

European-American

Fengcheng New Town

Spanish Later Additions

Dongtan Eco-City Chenjiazhen Lingang New Harbour City

Whilst some towns were neglected, six towns came to fruition (fig. 22). From 2003, efforts were directed to develop SNT, Dongtan Eco-City Chengjiazhen, and Lingang New Harbour City, with the latter two abandoning European styles to focus on creating idealized towns surrounding sustainable principles.87 As SNT became the leading location of OCNT its themed region, TT, will serve as the focal case study.

87

Jie, Shen, and Fulong, Wu,

‘The Development of MasterPlanned

Communities

Chinese

Suburbs:

A

in Case

Study of Shanghai’s Thames Town’, in Urban Geography, 33

(2012),

183-203

<https://

d o i .o rg / 1 0. 2 747/0 2 7 2 3638.33.2.183>

[accessed

1

March 2020] (p.190).

3.0 setting the scene

55

3.3 The English in a Chinese town

Fulong,

88

and

Wu,

‘Gated

packaged

Packaging

suburbia:

and

branding

Chinese suburban residential development’, (2010),

Cities,

385-396

27

<https://doi.

org/10.1016/j.cities.2010.06.003> [accessed

12

August

2021]

(p.390).

89

Atkins, Atkins: Architecture

& Urban Design: Selected & Current Works 2011, ed. by Edwina Askew, William Grime, Maya Thomas (Victoria: Images Publishing Group, 2011) p.415.

90

Ibid.

91

Bosker, p.60.

92

Ibid.

93

Shen, and Wu, p.193.

94

Darlington, p.83.

95

Calvin, Hui, ‘Decaffeinated

England: Thames Town and Its

Discontents’,

Studies

in

(2016),

76-83

in

Global

Verge: Asia,

2

<http://www.

An hour away from the central city sits TT, west of SNT. Led by Shanghai Songjiang New City Construction and Development Co. Ltd and Shanghai Henghe Real Estate Co. Ltd (SHRE),88 the town incorporates all the stereotypical building typologies and landscape features in a traditional English village. British firm, Atkins Design Studio, won the international competition to design a masterplan for the entire SNT and pilot area of TT.89 They claim that the replica town was ‘entirely market-driven’ as the commission was born from clients seeking to brand the town as a novel concept to ‘target a perceived niche in the real estate market’.90 This perspective is supported by Bosker. Informed by her visits and conversations with Chinese developers, she states that the town was advertised as the ideal residential landscape by framing the British lifestyle as symbols of elitism and grandeur.91 Noted in her travels, ‘the territory of aristocracy, and a world of prestige’ was plastered across advertising brochures, stressing European imitation as a way to project ‘an image of cosmopolitanism’.92 Despite the negative views some architects have towards the ethos and execution of TT, it has appeared to be popular amongst Chinese audiences. This is evident through an increase in housing prices, reaching 8,317 yuan/m2 (2008), significantly rising above average prices of 8,182 yuan/m2 in Shanghai’s city center.93

j s t o r . o r g /s t a b l e / 1 0 . 5 74 9 / vergstudglobasia.2.1.0076> [accessed 8 July 2021] (p.79).

96

56

Ibid.

As Atkin’s design typology is based on a ‘typical rural British village in Berkshire or Surrey’, one may expect to see many features that would exist in a stereotypical English village.

Red telephone boxes, meandering streets, buildings with Tudor, Georgian, and Victorian facades, a fish and chip shop, pub, and public squares all demonstrate these cliché English markers.94 The town however reveals itself to be a Chinese perception of an English town due to the comical statue placement of famous English figures.95 Statues of Winston Churchill, Shakespeare, James Bond, David Beckham, Princess Diana, are placed next to each other despite bearing no relation to one another.96

Fig. 23: Map of SNT Fig. 24: TT marketing poster ‘Welcome to Thames Town, Taste authentic British style of small town, Enjoy

sunlight,

enjoy

nature, Enjoy your life and holiday, Dreaming of British, Live in Thames Town’

3.0 setting the scene

57

58

From left to right, top to bottom: Fig. 25: Replica of Christ Church Fig. 26: Statue of Harry Potter Fig. 27: TT historic center Fig. 28: Statue of Winston Churchill Fig. 29: Red telephone box Fig. 30: TT public square

3.0 setting the scene

59

Fig. 31: Caddy’s business in Lyme Regis

Fig. 32: TT’s replica of Caddy’s businesses

60

The mastery in its replication is apparent in the pub, and fish and chip shop. Gail Caddy, owner of the Rock Point Inn and Cobb Gate Fish Bar in Lyme Regis, Dorset, claims that her businesses have been replicated to the finest detail.97 The fact that the fish and chip shop in TT has been named the same with the exception of ‘Cobb’ being spelt as ‘Cob’ further emphasizes her claim.98 Caddy states that since discovering this replica she has been mocked saying that she had been ‘Shanghaied’ and that her business ‘is on the Chinese take-away menu’.99 Whilst Paul Rice, associate director of Atkins Shanghai, responds stating that ‘it’s not in any way supposed to be a replica’, James Ho, director of SHRE, claims that the intention was for the ‘properties to look exactly the same as those in the United Kingdom’.100 The fish and chip shop has since been changed to house a clothing store, although remnants of the fish and chip

Reuters

97

English amuses 19

Staff, Town

and

January

‘“Pirated” in

China

riles’,

Reuters,

2007,

<https://

w w w. r e u t e r s . c o m /a r t i c l e / us-life-china-thamesi d U S S H A1 5 0 7 3 7 2 0 0 6 1 1 0 6 > [Accessed 15 November 2021] 98

Ibid.

99

Ibid.

100

Ibid.

store sign is still visible. Despite being a finer detail in the grand scheme of TT’s replication, it does provoke questions surrounding the value of replicating to such an extent.

Fig. 34: Remnants of fish & chip shop name

Fig. 33: Fish & chip shop transitioned into clothing store

3.0 setting the scene

61

101

Henriot, and Minost, p.81.

102

Ibid.

103

Ibid.

104

Ibid. p.82.

105

Ibid.

106

Shepard, p.103.

107

Ibid.

108

Ibid.

109

Wu, ‘Gated and packaged

suburbia:

Packaging

and

branding Chinese suburban residential development’, p.151.

Spatially, TT can be categorized into zones bounded by three public squares – Love Square, Holiday Square, and Municipal Square. Each square represents different eras of British history, integrating the Chinese perception of key English town features throughout history.101 Love Square contains a ‘historic’ medieval core housing a NeoGothic Catholic Church and buildings adorned with Tudor, Georgian, and Victorian facades.102 Holiday Square expresses the Industrial Revolution with red and grey brick buildings, and contemporary facades in Municipal Square signifies modern day England.103 Similarly, the residential units in TT are also sorted into three different typologies, the first being three to six storey flats identified as Chelsea Garden.104 The second typology consists of terraced houses and semi-detached villas, reflected in Victoria Garden, Robin Apartments, and Kensington Garden, and lastly, detached high-end villas in Leeds Garden, Nottingham Garden, Rowland Heights, Windsor Island, and Hampton Garden.105 Note the repeated use of English place names that aim to reinforce the ‘Englishness’ of the town.

The English novelty of TT has framed it as a highly desirable location for weddings, with the town housing 19 wedding studios alone. Many critics have voiced their disdain towards the superficial, capitalist agenda TT communicates – the Gothic church only serves as a backdrop for photoshoots, holding no religious services.106 Shepard notes that when speaking with tourists, there was no knowledge of the town beyond a good destination for photos.107 He also highlights that despite efforts to create a bustling English town center, most retail shops and cafes were not in operation.108 Although many TT properties were sold for high prices within a short time span, they were mainly used for holiday homes and speculation,109 explaining the lack of inhabitation.

TT serves as a unique precedent for replication as it is grounded in many sociocultural values derived from historical relevance, yet also informed by modern-day economic objectives. The following chapter will delve into investigating what and how this method of replication is contributing to the Chinese community and their identity.

62

Fig. 35: Map of TT layout

1

Municipal Square

12

Songjiang Art Museum

2

Love Square & church

13

Musuem of Urban Planning

3

Holiday Square

14

Information Center

4

Old Town Center

15

Development Company (SNCD)

5

Pao International Secondary School

6

Clinic

7

Nursery

8

Clubhouse

9

Shopping mall & supermarket

10

Offices

11

Hotel

Pedestrian routes Vehicular routes

hampton garden kent street

Place names Street names

3.0 setting the scene

63

64

From left to right, top to bottom: Fig. 36: Wedding couple with church 1 Fig. 37: Wedding couple with church 2 Fig. 38: Woman posing in front of ‘Cob Gate Fish Bar’ Fig. 39: Tudor facade Fig. 40: Victorian facade Fig. 41: Red brick industrial facade

3.0 setting the scene

65

66

chapter 4.0 a time for change

67

Whilst may invoke bewilderment for some, the focus of this dissertation is not to review TT’s success, but rather the value in its replication. 4.1 will analyze how it became an instrument to deal with the nation’s historical past, 4.2 discusses how replication has created an ideal cultural environment for the middle class, and 4.3 will study the socioeconomic connotations involved in TT’s construction methods.

The analysis will ultimately explore how architectural replication serves to establish a national Chinese identity.

4.1 A Means to Rewrite History

Harry, den Hartog, and Jun,

110

Jiang, ‘Pilot Cities and Towns’, in

Shanghai

Searching

New

for

Towns:

community

and identity in a sprawling metropolis /上海新城：追寻蔓延 都市里的社区和身份, ed. by Harry den Hartog, and Jiang Jun (Rotterdam:

010

Publishers,

2010) pp.81-184 (p.122).

111

Piazzoni, and Banerjee, p.489.

112

113

Nieuwenhuis, p.294.

Lauren, Teixeira, ‘Building

China:

Why

Does

Chinese

A thought-provoking aspect of TT is that the architects had specifically designed the town with a ‘medieval historic core’, embellished with a replica of Bristol Cathedral.110 Whilst English towns are alien within China, great efforts were made to present TT as imbued with a rich and deep medieval history. Many have expressed that this is intrinsically connected to how the Chinese urban landscape was historically used as a tool to exert political control.111 This suggests that the Form/Dao of the Chinese copy is not limited to the built elements, but rather its intangible qualities and associated cultural value. It also reveals that in establishing a new national identity, replication serves as a means to forget the past.

Architecture Favor Enclosure Over Openness?’, RADII, 16 April 2019 <https://radiichina. com/building-china-gatingenclosure/> October 2021] 114

Ibid.

[accessed

25

The urban grain under dynastic China was greatly bounded by the idea of city walls – chengqiang (城墻).

Assistant Professor Marijin Nieuwenhuis coined the phrase, ‘“urban chess-boards” to describe the strict symmetrical arrangement across the built environment.112 The strict urban grid consisting of insular courtyard homes formed different neighborhoods or wards (fig. 42) and those who resided in them belonged to a myriad of economic and social classes.113 This insular arrangement was used to reduce social interaction between neighborhoods.114 The Qing dynasty’s defeat at the Opium Wars and the consequent Treaty of Nanking introduced Shanghai to its treaty port era. As Shanghai had no means to support British commercial and industrial activities, the British introduced

68

Fig.42: Plan of a typical chengqiang grid and wards

Fig. 43: European ‘gridiron’ structure implemented by the British

4.0 a time for change

69

Fig. 44: Lilong layout 70

modern infrastructure, fundamentally changing the urban grain.115 Part of this ‘new modernity’ commonly accredited to the British was the imposition of land regulations and city planning.116 Due to Shanghai’s flat topography, the British were able to enforce their ‘European-style gridiron structure’ onto the urban landscape, along with traditional terraced houses in linear rows.117 This linear housing stemmed from needing cost effective residential units that were convenient to build, as it was perceived that the regular Chinese worker did not require nor was deserving of the traditional Chinese courtyard house typology (see 4.2).118 This replication of British row housing ultimately led to the emergence of one of the most significant housing arrangements in Chinese history, lilong (里弄). Lilong literally translates to ‘neighborhood alley’.119 The name is derived from the arrangement of residential units, which had rows of adjoining two to fourstorey houses subdivided by small lanes providing access to each unit. Every cluster of lilong(s) – lilongtang (里弄堂) – had a main alleyway running perpendicular to gated entrance lanes and small access lanes, all clustered within boundary streets that defined groups of lilongtang(s) (fig. 44).120 The gated notion of each lilongtang clearly marked them as their own entity, harking back to the insular chengqiang layout.

Whilst the emergence of lilong was introduced by the British during Shanghai’s treaty port era, it does suggest being an evolution from the inward-encompassing city walls.

A defining feature of the lilong that served to become a key Chinese urban planning principle was orientation. The strict southern orientation was implemented to maximize natural light permeating into the interior. Traditionally, to reside in the most northern part of the building is seen as a privilege as it provides maximum exposure to the south.121 This desirability for the southern orientation meant that all frontages of lilong houses faced south – the back of the first row of houses would consequently face the front of the second row of houses.122 This eradicated traditional notions of what is considered the front or back of the house. This blurring of boundaries, along with a lack of open spaces, quickly transformed the lanes and alleys into communal spaces exclusive to each neighborhood, each adopting identities of their own. The small lanes between rows of

Non,

115

Arkaraprasertku,

‘Placing Shanghai: Housing, Heritage, and the Conflicts over Contested Urban Space’, New Mandala; Australian National University, 11 April 2012, <https:// www.newmandala.org/ placing-shanghai/> [Accessed 27 October 2021] 116

Ibid.

117

Ibid.

118

Ibid.

Gregory,

119

Shanghai

Bracken, lilong.

A

‘The new

concept of home in China’, International

Institute

for

Asian Studies, The Newsletter 86

Summer

2020,

<https://

www.iias.asia/the-newsletter/ a r t i c l e /s h a n g h a i - l i l o n g new-concept-home-china> [Accessed 27 October 2021] 120

121

Ibid.

Dieter, Hassenpflug, The

Urban Code of China (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2012) p.44.

122

Arkaraprasertku,

‘Placing

Shanghai: Housing, Heritage, and

the

Conflicts

over

Contested Urban Space’

4.0 a time for change

71

123

Arkaraprasertku,

‘Placing

Shanghai: Housing, Heritage, and

the

Conflicts

over

Contested Urban Space’ 124

Bracken,

‘The

Shanghai

lilong. A new concept of home in China’

Fig. 45: Appropriation of lilong alley

72

houses became spaces for domestic chores e.g., cooking, meeting with neighbors, washing clothes,123 and the alleys facing main streets were used for commercial activities.124 This ultimately developed into shared public space, a new typology for the urban landscape of Shanghai. Despite that lilong emerged to accommodate foreign impositions, the grouping of houses gave rise to rich appropriation of many ‘in-between’ spaces, creating vibrant streetscapes and communities.

The 1949 communist victory saw foreign establishments as a challenge to Chinese perceptions of urbanism. Historically, the rural was perceived as ‘the source of Chinese culture’,125 a symbol of hard work and persistence. Resonating with these beliefs, Mao ‘viewed city life as too soft, lacking revolutionary vigour and labeled urban bureaucrats and intellectuals as “lords and masters” (chengshi laoye) whose bodies and minds should be toughened’.126 Mao saw the evolution of the city as associated with ‘alien influences’, an attack on traditional Chinese values. Thus, he sought to remind the nation of what made Chinese society fundamentally Chinese – the rigorous work ethic of the rural.127

Fig. 46: Photograph of youths sent to the rural to be re-educated

125

Nieuwenhuis, p.294.

126

Ibid.

127

Ibid.

128

Shepard, p.118.

129

Duanfang, Lu, Remaking

Chinese

Urban

Modernity,

As a result, he adopted the Soviet model of city planning rooted in utilitarianism.128 He introduced superblocks, consisting of ‘four to six-storey blocks of flats arranged around a quadrangle with public facilities in the middle’.129 This new-found arrangement eventually led to the even more rigid formation of the danwei system (單位), a series of standardized work units with accompanying residential accommodation.130 It sought to become the revolutionary

Form:

Scarcity,

and

Space, 1949-2005 (Abington: Routledge, 2005) p.31.

130

Den Hartog, ‘Searching for

Community

and

Identity’,

p.370.

4.0 a time for change

73

Fig. 47: Plan of Soviet superblocks imposed on Chinese landscape

Fig. 48: Typical danwei plan

Fig. 49: Example of Mao’s buildings 1

74

Fig. 50: Example of Mao’s buildings 2

blueprint for reorganizing the Chinese city,131 aimed to redefine spaces of production and administration.

Similar to lilongs, the residential units were grouped into neighborhoods, known as xiaoqu(s) (小區).132 Members within each xiaoqu would work in the neighboring farms and factories, all specializing in one skill.133 A government appointed committee per danwei would maintain social order, regulate day to day affairs, and administer government policies.134 Due to the close relationship between work and home, danwei(s) very quickly became the core facet of people’s identities – their lives were entirely dependent on which danwei they were allocated to.135 Mao’s danwei(s) not only introduced a new building typology, but also an increased sense of enclosure. The rational danwei(s) manifested in uniformly rectangular six-storey structures built of brick and concrete, adopting the modernist language with flat roofs, simplistic facades, and clean lines.136 Rectangular windows were placed at regular intervals, exuding a painfully mundane appearance in the name of rationality. The streets that line these work units were no different. Unlike the lilong, there was no allowance for appropriation of any kind. As the superblocks were walled enclosures with restricted access, there was no physical or visual permeation through them, inevitably creating continuous barriers across the city. Shepard notes that ‘superblocks can stretch for half a kilometer between intersections and streets 200 metres wide’.137 To accommodate this, vehicular traffic was prioritized as it was the most efficient means of travel. This resulted in horrendous air quality, streets bubbling with traffic, car horns sounding, and a cacophony of frustrated motorists.

Furthermore, the excessively wide public streets were subdivided to accommodate cars and bicycles, neglecting pedestrian crossings.138 Thus, the formation of superblocks and large boulevards distanced people from interacting with each other and with their built environment. The transitional spaces in the city were no longer intimate and human scaled – ‘the enormity of the space in between creates an air of isolation’.139

131

Filippo, De Pieri, ‘Modern

Beijing is no palimpsest city: one of wiping off and replacing’, Architectural

Review,

December

2015

15

<https://

www. architec tural-review. com/essays/modern-beijingis-no-palimpsest-city-itsevolution-is-one-of-wiping-offand-replacing> [accessed 31 December 2021] 132

Ibid.

133

Ibid.

134

Ibid.

135

Ibid.

136

Lu, Xing, Rhetoric of the

Chinese Cultural Revolution: The

Impact

Thought,

on

Chinese

Culture,

Communication

and (South

Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2004) p.58.

137

Shepard, p.123.

138

Ibid. p.122.

139

Ibid. p.123.

4.0 a time for change

75

140

Lu, p.61.

141

Ibid. p.62

142

James

Voices

W,

of

the

Markham, Red

Giants:

in

Russia

Communications

and China (Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1967) p.438: cited in Lu, Xing, Rhetoric of

the

Chinese

Cultural

Revolution: The Impact on Chinese

Thought,

Culture,

and Communication (South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2004) p.64.

143

144

Nieuwenhuis, p.298.

Piazzoni,

p.489.

and

Banerjee,

Mao’s uncompromising reorganization of space was progressed further during his Four Olds campaign (Cultural Revolution, 1966). This campaign eradicated all cultural elements that did not serve the communist agenda and erased anything associated with traditional Chinese values.

He had developed the mindset that Chinese culture was the key contributor to China’s backwardness, preventing the advancement as a nation. This decimated the ‘four olds’ – old ideas, culture, habits, and customs – substituting them with the embrace of the ‘four news’.140 This campaign demolished many cultural and religious architecture, saw the inscription of new place names, and the demise of literature, music, and art.141 The loss of monumental treasures and artifacts fundamentally erased all traces of the nation’s history, wiping the slate clean to impose a new era of authoritarianism. James Markham quotes, ‘They [Chinese Communists] took the dichotomous view that the old and the new were locked in a death struggle and that one must die so that the other could live, rather than attempting to fuse the better features of the two’.142 As Mao’s reorganization of urban space was driven by his uncompromising ideologies, it has cultivated an estranged relationship between the city and its inhabitants. His implementation of the danwei ‘was intrinsically political in its instrumentality to better control urban inhabitants while imposing a socialist ideological order’.143 Historian Thomas Campanella suggests that that these themed towns were a coping mechanism to deal with the ‘denial of history’ during Mao’s regime.144 Whilst it may seem odd to the layman that TT was constructed to look like an authentic English town, supposedly rooted in years of medieval history, this appropriation of another place’s history may well have been the perceived solution to compensate for the lack of national history.

76

Fig. 51: People burning a plaque with a saying commending teachers

Fig. 52: Buddha statue defaced with slogans, ‘Destroy the Old’ and ‘Establish a new world’

4.0 a time for change

77

145

146

Hassenpflug, p.94.

Tino, Mager, ‘Introduction:

Selected

Parts,

Memories’,

in

Designed Architecture

Reperformed: The Politics of Reconstruction, ed. By Tino Mager

(Abington:

Ashgate

Publishing, 2005), pp.1-18 (p.2).

147

Bosker, p.82.

148

Shepard, p.116.

149

Darlington, p.82.

Historically, the English town center represents an area for congregation, the exchange of goods, or for entertainment.145 It is where people come together, and the cathedral is the beacon that signifies that. With the demise of the lilong lively streets, alongside the intrinsic bind between one and their danwei, the city’s inhabitants had lost touch with their environment. Therefore, the Form/Dao that the Chinese envisage is the non-physical qualities of English towns – the intimate, human-centered buildings, the way the streets are designed for walking, the permeability and connections across neighborhood streets etc. They are ultimately striving for an environment that serves their wellbeing.

Mao’s destruction of architecture that were representative of Chinese culture left people with no history they could call their own – ‘historical architecture assures us the past was real and allows us to get a hold of the past’.146 With residual buildings embodying no identity beyond communist pragmatism, their built environment became the physical reminder of the nation’s collective pain and suffering.

Rice supports this, stating that the Chinese ‘do not want to replicate the styles of architecture that represent their recent past… people are not quite comfortable with the recent past in terms of the quality of the architecture and the urban planning that existed in the 1950s and 1960s’.147 Thus, the replication of foreign architecture not only suggests a means of distancing from a painful past, but a way for the Chinese to rebuild attachments to their surroundings.

Architect Fanny Hoffman-Loss states that this facilitates a ‘new ideal city’, as well as an ‘ideal society without any history behind it’.148 As the Chinese have not experienced a history of patriotism, replicating a foreign environment enables the appropriation of another’s history as their own.

Like shanzai, the Chinese have taken an existing product and attached new meaning to it. This ultimately allows them to establish a sense of belonging to their environment, however alien it may be - ‘the heritage they truly seek to emulate is the patina of a slow-grown pace’.149 Replication is the instrument to help cope with a painful past, encouraging a new national identity through the curation of an artificial historical legacy.

78

ANCIENT CHINA ERA

CHENGQIANG

SIHEYUAN

IMPERIAL CHINA ERA 221BC - 1912

T R E ATY P O RT / LILONG

COLONIAL ERA 1840 -1943

DANWEI

REINVENTION OF URBAN LANDSCAPE

MAO ZEDONG ERA 1945 - 1976

DENG XIAOPING ERA 1978 - 1987

REPLICA TOWNS? Fig. 53: Summary timeline Fig. 53: Defaced religious sculptures

of urban landscape 79

4.2 A Means to Denote Cul ture

150

151

Lu, p.59.

Hassenpflug, p.44.

152

Shanghai Daily, ‘Traditional

dwellings

designed

with

care’, China.org.cn, 19 August 2014

<http://www.china.

org.cn/travel/2014 - 08/ 19/ content _ 33276463.htm> [accessed 02 January 2022] 153

Ibid.

154

Ibid.

155

Ibid.

156

Rowe, and Kuan, p.3.

As discussed in 2.0, the Chinese culture of copy focuses on capturing essence and using replication as a tool to innovate. TT’s design harks back to the shanzai pick-andmix approach, customizing an English town to suit Chinese design principles. At first glance, TT appears identical to an English town, with meandering cobbled streets, ‘Ye-Olde English’ architecture, English-sounding place names, etc.

However, on closer inspection of the town layout, buildings’ orientation, and thresholds, it is evident that TT has been modified to accommodate the Chinese lifestyle. This subchapter draws on comparisons between TT and Anting New Town (ANT, German replica) to highlight that the end goal of Chinese replication is not with the exact copy, but to tailormake their idealized cultural environment.

Two elements paramount to the Chinese mode of planning are orientation and enclosure. As demonstrated by lilong, southern orientation is most favorable due to climate.

However, this preference is also associated with a societal or familial status, derived from fengshui principles (風水, Chinese geomancy) and originates from the traditional Chinese courtyard house, siheyuan (四合院).150 Siheyuan is a residential typology with a clearly defined hierarchical structure, historically reserved for wealthy families.151 The layout comprises of four buildings circling a central courtyard, built based on fengshui principles, eight diagrams of divination and the five elements.152 The main concept is that the universe is composed of five elements: fire, wind, water, wood, and earth.153 This translates into elements of the physical architecture. For example, the gated entrance is situated on the southern perimeter to ‘receive the “wind of harmony”’.154 The main house, largest and tallest of the four, is placed furthest back on the north side not only due to maximum solar gain but is thought to embody most of the element ‘water’, beneficial in case of fire.155 For this reason, this was reserved for the oldest family members, coinciding with Confucius’ principles of filial respect.156 As the young were seen as inferior, they resided in the side houses with

80

less sunlight. There is also an emphasis on enclosure. Apart from ‘higher ranking’ family members, young daughters also resided in the main house, as Confucius’ values note that they should not be exposed to the outside due to their unmarried status (preventing the tainting of their purity).157 Privacy is further demonstrated by the gated entrance, inward-looking courtyard, and presence of a screen wall.

The screen wall serves to prevent strangers from looking in, in addition to protecting against evil spirits.158 The traditional notions of spatial organization in relation to hierarchal status and introversion is still relevant today and have trickled down to later typologies, exhibited by chengqiang, lilong, and danwei. These principles serve as prevalent selling points across today’s real estate market, often being the ‘make-or-break’ feature that determines a sale.

Fig. 54: Siheyuan layout

157 Shanghai Daily, ‘Traditional dwellings designed with care’ 158 Chinadaily, ‘Hutongs and Siheyuans, org,

ChinaCulture. [n.d.].

<http://

en.chinacul ture.org/focus/ f o c u s / 2 0 1 0 e x p o_e n / 2 0 0 8 07/09/content_376684_2.htm> [accessed 02 January 2022]

4.0 a time for change

81

Den Hartog, and Jiang,

159

p.120.

160

Hassenpflug, p.13.

161

Ibid. p.93

162

Donald, p.34.

163

Ibid.

164

Hassenpflug, p.93.

Fig. 55: ANT residential blocks Fig. 56: ANT competition entry masterplan

82

Whilst Rice claims that Atkins has ‘broke the rules for south orientation’ to create a human-centered environment,159 many still argue that this is not the case. Professor Dieter Hassenpflug describes TT as a Chinese city masked with English buildings – ‘the English travesty of a Chinese new town’.160 He compares it with ANT to explain this phenomenon.

Like TT, ANT is a representation of an ideal German city.161 It embodies the quintessential German town features, as well as the missing ingredients that make up the ‘perfect’ German town. However, this is precisely why it proved unpopular with the Chinese market. ANT was originally planned as a ‘cliched German town with half-timbered houses and arched gates planned by the Chinese’.162 This was altered when Frankfurt firm, Albert Speer & Partner (AS&P), proposed an idealized town designed according to German planning standards.163 This consisted of an abundance of urban green belts with ponds and canals, pedestrian-focused streets, an open urban layout, and sustainable design choices (i.e., energyefficient processes and materials).164 Although this proposal may sound sensible, it did not adapt to the Chinese way of city planning.

The design of ANT overlooked the dichotomy between closed (private) and open (public) spaces. As demonstrated previously by various historic building typologies, enclosure and privacy are often stressed as a ‘socio-cultural imperative’.165 This is contrasted with the open nature of public spaces for commercial activities, informing a strong dualism in the way a Chinese city functions.166 Thus, gated thresholds are crucial to reinforce the division between public and private. However, as ANT was planned as an ‘open German city’, residential and commercial functions had no clear division, presenting substantial conflict.167 As this cultural feature was not accounted for, the addition of gates marking entrances became a tokenistic gesture suggested after the design had been finalized.168 This introduced what Hassenpflug refers to as ‘pseudo-gates’, comprised of speed bump barriers and a toll bar; not the walls or fences that the Chinese have historically used to achieve this division.169 The pseudo-gates’ ambiguous appearance not only questions the functionality of their presence, but also results in the town’s ‘ambivalent state of being symbolically open or closed’.170 This inevitably leaves the town in a state of flux, where it is perceived as neither German nor Chinese.

Fig. 57: Pseudo gates 1 Fig. 58: Pseudo gates 2

165

Hassenpflug, p.98

166

Ibid.

167

Ibid.

168

Ibid.

169

Ibid.

170

Ibid. p.100

4.0 a time for change

83

171 Hassenpflug, p.100.

172 Den Hartog, and Jiang, ‘Pilot Cities and Towns’, p.122.

173 Ibid. p.97.

174 Ibid.

175 Ibid.

Fig. 59: Idealized & realized ANT Nolli diagrams Fig. 60: Zoomed-in ANT competition entry masterplan (left) Fig. 61: Realized ANT

ANT also failed to realize the importance of the north-south axis. Like TT, ANT was envisioned as a medieval European city and was designed around an ‘organic city plan’.171 Perceived as a key element to bring this plan to fruition was a deviation from the strict north-south orientation, with the German planners failing to grasp its sociocultural significance.172 This meant that the existing building designs had to be altered – they had to be ‘pressed together and stretched to generate more facades facing the south’.173 Whilst this fulfilled the need to conform to a southern orientation, it diluted the originally intimate courtyard spaces, losing the other key principle of enclosure (fig. 59).174 Hassenpflug offers that the only remedy would be high-rise blocks, although this would disregard the endeavor for a human-scaled atmosphere to achieve a ‘perfect’ German town.175 As such, attempts to establish enclosure and orientation further heightened the confusing urban language within the town.

masterplan (right)

Idealized ANT (2000)

84

Realized ANT (2004)

ANT layout

TT layout

Residential Commerical Gates Axis & orientation

In contrast, Atkins were not only aware of both building principles, but integrated them as key components informing the design. This is exhibited through the definitive zoning of public and private spaces, as well as measures used to enclose the residential areas. Whereas ANT focused on a mixed-use approach, TT clearly demarcated the boundaries, creating no uncertainty between public and private. TT consolidated all commercial activities in the center and situated the majority of residential neighborhoods on the outskirts (fig. 62).176 Orientation has also been wielded as a tool to make the separation even clearer. Although not as prevalent as ANT, there are some mixed-use buildings near the TT town center. Where ANT attempted to integrate residential and commercial activities unsuccessfully, TT has harmoniously merged them together. The commercial spaces are placed on the east and west, leaving the north and south-facing sides to accommodate residential units.177 This allows the European concept of mixed-use town centers to be incorporated in a way that is consistent with Chinese values.

Fig. 62: Parti diagram of ANT & TT layout

176

Den Hartog, and Jiang, ‘Pilot

Cities and Towns’, p.108.

177

Ibid. p.106

4.0 a time for change

85

Fig. 63: Creating enclosure through vegetation walls & lake

Fig. 64: Guards dressed as Yeoman Warders

86

The markers used to signify thresholds also reveal the efforts to reinforce a sense of enclosure. The town can only be accessed through one vehicular road and one pedestrian path, both indicated by road signs.178 The rest of TT is surrounded by the artificial lake Huating, and by tall vegetation walls that hide it from the rest of Songjiang.179 This presents TT as a neighborhood entity in itself, reminiscent of traditional Chinese close-knit communities. The residential typologies in TT - detached villas, terraced housing, and flats – may look ‘English’, however are still structured like the traditional Chinese compound. They include gated entrances, fences surrounding the neighborhood, toll booth, infra-red sensors, CCTV cameras, guards etc.180 Thus, aside from the superficially English elements – Victorian/ Georgian/Tudor facades, red phone booths, and guards dressed as Yeoman Warders – the way the dwellings are structured and accessed are fundamentally Chinese.181 In addition, most of the superficially English-looking buildings are reserved for commercial activities.182 Even some of the more extravagant Victorian terraced houses, adorned with columns and bay windows similar to those in London’s South Kensington, are left uninhabited, only functioning ‘as a backdrop of an English dream’.183 Although this may be met with uneasiness (it is safe to assume that Baudrillard and Eco would leap to label TT as a simulacrum), it conveys the importance of the Chinese building mode and how adaptations have reinforced this. The Chinese have taken English elements and have combined them with Chinese elements to better suit their culture.184

178

Henriot, and Minost, p.84.

179

Ibid.

180

Ibid.

181

Ibid.

182

Ibid.

183

Ibid. p.107

184

Donald, p.33.

Fig. 65: TT’s Victorian row houses Fig. 66: London South Kensington facades

4.0 a time for change

87

185

Shen, and Wu, p.185.

186

Ibid. p.187

187

Ibid. p.183

188

Harry, den Hartog, ‘Building

in New

China’,

in

Towns:

Shanghai

Searching

for

community and identity in a sprawling metropolis /上海新 城：追寻蔓延都市里的社区和身 份, ed. by Harry den Hartog, and Jiang Jun (Rotterdam: 010 Publishers,

2010)

pp.194-222

(p.208).

Fig. 67: Defined archway threshold 1 Fig. 68: Defined archway threshold 2

88

Furthermore, the Chinese middle classes’ way of life has shifted since the Maoist era. With the focus shifted from communist utilitarianism, the emerging middle class can now freely express their wealth – ‘they seek to establish their identity through distinctive taste and lifestyle’.185 Despite having uninhabited spaces behind their façades, the replication symbolizes the middle class’s eagerness to reject the past by reasserting themselves to be associated with wealth, along with embracing capitalism and consumer culture.186 Professor Fulong Wu reflects that whilst the gated nature of TT derives from historic values of collectivism and social control, it now seeks to symbolize elite status and wealth.187 This recalls Atkins’ and Bosker’s views on TT being a marketing tactic above all, branding the English lifestyle as culturally refined. Although this may seem frivolous, the Chinese have not previously felt a sense of autonomy or ownership over their homes. With their stripped culture and history, they had nothing to adhere to concepts of wealth and luxury aside from the existence of foreign architecture, historically being symbols of power. Architect Harry Den Hartog agrees with this, stating that the Cultural Revolution had pushed everything seemingly expensive or exotic to be associated with wealth, usually expressed in ‘grotesque-looking classical idiom of mouldings, arches and the like’.188 Combined with English place names branding what is beyond the gate, the gate now represents a portal to a lavishly elite lifestyle. TT’s replication and adaptation to the Chinese urban code reveals an added layer of depth that symbolizes the desires of the new middle class.

TT has interpreted replication as a base for customization, ultimately to reestablish cultural values. This is revealed through the comparison between TT and ANT. Whilst ANT was a direct transposition of a German town on Chinese soil, it was deemed unsuccessful due to the planners’ inability to adopt the Chinese urban code of enclosure and southern orientation. Atkins, however, were able to integrate these principles into their design and used them to inform the zoning of residential and commercial activities. This awareness has proven to be significant as despite both towns incorporating European facades that embody flair and luxury, overlooking fundamental principles of Chinese culture ultimately rendered ANT undesirable. This may seem like a contradiction with importing European typologies, but the focus of replication does not pertain so much to the copy’s physical form as it does the cultural symbolism of having them present on their soil. ANT demands the Chinese to adapt their lifestyle for it to function, whereas TT adapts itself to the local way of living.189 Whilst the process of replication in ANT stopped with the replica of a German town, TT built upon the replicas to create a Chinese version of an idealized English environment. In doing so, it has allowed the emerging middle-class to define what a life of luxury looks like on their terms, and to freely express that sentiment. For a nation that has previously rejected its own history and culture, replication ultimately provides the framework for inhabitants to reestablish a modern Chinese identity.

Fig. 69: TT facades exhibiting mouldings & arches

189

Hassenpflug, p.107.

4.0 a time for change

89

4.3 A Means to Compete on the Global Stage

190

Den Hartog, and Jiang, ‘Pilot

Cities and Towns’, p.122.

191

192

Ibid. p.122-123.

Fraher & Findlay [online].

Understanding Period Home Design: Georgian & Victorian.

In Fraher & Findlay [May 2020], <https://fraherandfindlay.com/ page11319832.html> [Accessed 02 June 2021] 193

Den Hartog, and Jiang, ‘Pilot

Cities and Towns’, p.122.

194

Den Hartog, and Jiang, ‘Pilot

Cities and Towns’, p.122-123.

Continuing from 4.2, which revealed the merits of replication to customize foreign landscapes to Chinese taste, this sub-chapter highlights replication to streamline existing construction processes to adhere to Chinese speed and mode of production. As the Chinese hold so much pride in their copy work craft, one would expect that the buildings in TT would be ‘carbon copies’ of those found in England.190 Whilst they may look like ‘carbon copies’, the process and materiality involved in their construction are different. As established in 2.0, the pride in replication stems from the ability to recreate the object/product with the essence of the original, and any additional changes that improves it to personal standards. For TT, this reflects the process in which its ‘English’ buildings were constructed. The optimization of processes through replication has developed their construction and building industry at lightning speed, placing the nation’s development on the global stage.

When planning the construction of TT, the Chinese developers were insistent on communicating authenticity through materiality. This led to the importation of building materials and furniture,191 in keeping with the ‘English’ language of the town. Despite TT representing a foreign landscape, the Chinese local building regulations had to be adhered to. This meant that instead of conforming to how traditional Tudor and Georgian buildings were historically built – i.e. Tudor buildings with a wooden frame and clay, and Georgian buildings with solid brick external walls192 - TT’s versions had to be constructed with a concrete frame and ‘finished with thin decorative skin of applied bricks or tiles’.193 Therefore, the imported materials were only limited to the materials that were seen to be crucial in evoking English novelty. The materials more cost-effectively purchased in China, the concrete frame and roof slats, were therefore purchased locally.194

90

Fig. 70: Elevation of TT buildings

Fig. 71: Tudor facade under

Fig. 72: Thin layer of bricks over

construction

concrete frame

4.0 a time for change

91

Fig. 73: Cluster of concrete buildings in China

Fig. 74: Orthogonal concrete frame 1

92

Fig. 75: Orthogonal concrete frame 2

Concrete frames became commonplace during the Maoist era with the Soviet-adopted construction model, suited for building to achieve practicality and utilitarianism (as discussed in 4.1).195 This gave rise to ideas of mass production, where a ‘virtual mould cast’ of buildings was designed and duplicated across the country.196 Reflective of Mao’s impersonal attitude to planning, the buildings were ‘no more than concrete boxes’ as concrete was the cheapest and quickest material to work with.197 The credibility associated with concrete was supported by the economic boom in the 1980s following Deng’s economic reforms, where another phase of mass production was needed to compensate for the increasing need of urban development and infrastructure. This further reinforced concrete as the ideal material, prioritizing it for ‘standardized artifacts.198

195

Shepard, p.118.

196

Ibid.

197

Ibid.

Bologna, Alberto, Chinese

198

Brutalism

today:

Concrete

and Avant-Garde Architecture (New York: Oro Editions, 2019) p.13.

199

Ibid. p.15.

200

Ibid.

201

Ibid.

202

Ibid.

This Chinese pragmatism has trickled down to modern construction. Dutch architect John Van de Water identifies that concrete is perceived to be the ‘ideal’ material for the massive construction of structural skeletons’ due to its cheap economic value.199 He states that a standard concrete grid of 8.4 meters had been implemented in most buildings in Beijing, as this layout allows the columns to extend into basement car parks, leaving appropriate space for three cars between them.200 Whilst both suitable for building this orthogonal structural frame, concrete was also much more cost effective than steel.201 This meant that clients would religiously adhere to this 8.4m grid, and any proposals deviating beyond this grid would be accused of being ‘illogical and “difficult to use”’.202 This meant that ‘architectural freedom had often been reduced to the design brief of a fashionable skin thirty centimeters thick around identical concrete frames’ – which is precisely the structural build-up Atkins had designed for the buildings in TT.

4.0 a time for change

93

203

204

Bosker, p.86.

Charlie

Q.

L.,

Xue,

and

Minghao, Zhou, ‘Importation and

adaptation:

building

‘one city and nine towns’ in Shanghai: a case study of Vittorio

Gregotti’s

Pujiang

Town’,

DESIGN 12

(2007),

plan

in

of

URBAN

International, 21-40

<https://

d o i . o r g / 1 0 . 1 0 5 7/p a l g r a v e . udi.9000180>

[accessed

March 2021] (p.22).

94

205

Shen, and Wu, p.199.

206

Bosker, p.87.

207

Ibid. p.16.

208

Ibid.

209

Ibid. p.1

1

Perhaps the use of this practice is attributable to the low cost, but like customizing TT’s orientation and thresholds to suit Chinese design & fengshui principles, the adaptation of processes and materials to adhere to Chinese building regulations conveys a greater message. Although the 8.4m concrete grid regulation may seem rigid and sterile, this level of standardization benefits both productivity and efficiency.

This ultimately facilitated a ‘feverish pace of construction’ of a multitude of buildings, allowing the nation to make a significant recovery from the communist era and signaling its economic successes through urban development.203 This is evidenced by the development of 6000km2 around Shanghai city center over the past 20 years to meet the demands of urbanization.204 This is further supported by how quickly SNT was built – approximately 10sqkm became an urban area in the first two years, complete with 4 billion yuan (approx. £458,818,153.20) worth of infrastructure construction.205 New York Times China correspondent Howard French, describes the replica towns as, ‘a statement of having arrived, of being rich and successful. We can pick and choose whatever we want, including owning a piece of the West. In fact, we’re so rich we can own the West without even having to go there.’206 Whilst many may argue that the act of replicating English towns could be a form of self-colonization, French presents a homage to the advancements China has made in the last decade.207 Likened to the imperial emperors who have built their enemy landscapes in their land, TT is a display of the Chinese technological prowess and ability to compete with others.208 It offers testament to their arrival as a worthy competitor on the global stage. As the literal translation of the Chinese characters for China (中國; middle kingdom) would suggest, ‘while it once considered itself to be the center of the world, now China is making itself into the center that actually contains the world’.209

As seen from both Mao and Deng’s reforms, the idea of progress is deeply rooted in the country’s political agenda, which has been to catch up and surpass the West for the last century.210 However, as ‘the West is the target and object of this obsession, it also becomes the model of the obsession.

Overtaking the West very often boils down to copying the West’.211 Hence, the seemingly impersonal concrete frame in reality signifies a deeper meaning. Like shanzai, the adaptation of building processes has ultimately enabled the Chinese to capture the essence of English towns, with the added benefit of speed and cost effectiveness, tailoring it to Chinese pragmatism. The Chinese utilized replication as an experimental method to find their most efficient means of achieving the same desired outcome. This enabled unprecedented speeds of urbanization that pushed the nation’s rigorous economic development, eventually demonstrating their ability to establish themselves as a ‘First World Power’.212

Fig. 76: Tudor facade with bamboo scaffolding

210

Bosker, p.88.

211

Ibid.

212

Ibid. p.7

4.0 a time for change

95

96

chapter 5.0 conclusion

97

Chinese replica towns are entangled with a myriad of tensions, a reflection of historical and current societal conditions. As the practice of architectural replication is often controversial, the value of replication is overlooked: a tool to experiment and innovate to advance on existing knowledge. This is exhibited through the analysis of TT, which revealed that replication provided a framework for the Chinese to define their new-found national identity in a historical, cultural, and socioeconomic context.

As TT is a product of cultural specificity, the Chinese culture of copy was discussed against the ideas of Baudrillard and Eco to highlight a different approach towards replication.

Whereas Baudrillard and Eco champion the binary opposition and hierarchical difference between the original and copy, the Chinese perceive a degree of fluidity between them, seeing them as one and the same. This is due to the focus centering around capturing the essence of the original within the copy, and appreciating the craftsmanship involved in constructing the copy.

This analysis of TT examined the value of replication through three lenses – the historical, cultural, and socioeconomic.

4.1 interpreted TT’s incorporation of a medieval core as a coping mechanism to reconcile the relationship the Chinese have with their built environment. Mao’s unyielding urban landscape of grey superblocks, wide boulevards, and allencompassing danwei, had led to the perception of the built environment as another vehicle to exert political control, evidenced further through his eradication of all physical manifestations symbolizing Chinese culture, architecture being amongst them. Lack of consideration for the humanscale has created the need for an environment catered to people’s well-being and belonging, even if that means constructing a town with an emphasis on a fabricated medieval history. Thus, replication is used here to rebuild connections between inhabitants and their environment, eventually to establish ownership through the fabrication 98

Fig. 77: Replica of Christ Church 2

99

of another place’s history.

Following years of not knowing what a Chinese city should look or feel like, 4.2 explores replication as an instrument to construct an ideal environment. TT reveals to be a customized version of an English town according to Chinese design values. A comparison with ANT is drawn to illustrate the importance of orientation, thresholds, and enclosure. Whilst planners of ANT failed to note the sociocultural importance of these principles, they were intrinsically woven into TT’s design. Commercial activities were placed on the east and west, leaving the north-south axis for residential purposes to reflect climatic and fengshui principles. The incorporation of clearly defined gates at thresholds allowed for the clear separation of open and closed spaces, emphasizing the significance of privacy and enclosure that Chinese residential typologies are used to.

The implementation of gated thresholds has also embodied an added layer of symbolism – representing the middle class’s desire to express their newly found wealth, breaking free from Maoist constraints. This exhibits replication’s value in determining an ideal Chinese town structure by building upon what was already successful, eventually constructing a new social class expression.

Lastly, replication also serves as a way of streamlining construction processes and methods to enable China to progress as a notable global competitor. Despite the developer’s insistent request of using authentic materials to construct Tudor, Georgian, and Victorian buildings, concrete frames were used to adhere to Chinese building regulations. By analyzing the role of concrete throughout the history of Chinese construction, it revealed the material’s significance in fast-tracking China’s urban development in the 80s. Replication not only allowed China to catch up with the rest of the world, but it also managed to capture the essence of English towns with methods already available to them, combining craftsmanship and efficiency.

The seemingly insignificant detail of the concrete frame embodies a wealth of cultural value behind it, conveying how replication enabled China to establish its global identity with its technological prowess.

100

This dissertation presents an exploration of the various ways architectural replication was able to benefit the Chinese community through the analysis of TT. By highlighting the value of TT’s replication, it presents an alternative perspective on how replication as a practice can be viewed. The Chinese attitude to replication is ultimately an experimental means to innovate using pre-established knowledge. Replication is utilized as a method to redefine what constitutes as the Chinese identity, its products serving as symbols of the country’s history, culture, and progress. After all, isn’t that what architecture seeks to do?

Fig. 78: Tudor facades

5.0 conclusion

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M A ( R C H ) D I S S E RTAT I O N Newcastle University Jing Olyvia Tam 170244440