April 21 – June 25, Rooms for Reform: International Hotels in China, 1974-1990

Rooms for Reform: International Hotels in China, 1974-1990
空间改革：国际饭店在中国， 1974 – 1990

The early years of “Opening and Reform” in post-Mao China were marked by transformative architectural and urban change. This exhibition offers a look at the role played by one building type – the international hotel – in spurring China’s economic development and limiting the risks of political destabilization.

The exhibition highlights several of the era’s best known international hotels, including the Shanghai Centre, completed by John Portman & Associates in Shanghai in 1990, with a range of materials, including publications, plans, photographs, and models. These artifacts testify to the optimism and uncertainty that surrounded these projects. They illuminate the debates taking place as to how these new technologies might inform China’s preexisting architectural practices. They also draw our attention to how rapidly China has continued to develop since the early reform-era (1978-1990).

In theory, these projects presented new liberalized environments through which foreign capital, ideas, and expertise could be channeled into China over time. In practice, they ushered in dramatic ideological and operational transformations that catalyzed urban development and reshaped China’s major urban centers. Collectively, they offer an opportunity to better understand a particularly meaningful moment in China’s recent history.

“改革开放”初期，后毛泽东时代的中国，建筑和城市经历了显著的转型与变化。本展览为检视国际饭店这一特定建筑类型提供了视角，观察其在中国促进经济发展和抑制政治不稳定因素方面的作用。

本展览聚焦于几个同时代中国最为知名的国际饭店，包括1990年竣工、由约翰·波特曼建筑设计事务所设计的上海商城。展览将展出项目相关的出版物、平面图、摄影作品和模型等，反映了当时人们对于这些项目的乐观态度和不确定性。这些材料呈现了当时人们的讨论：这些新的建筑技术将如何重塑中国已有的建筑实践？同时，这场展览也引发人们关注中国自从改革开放初期（1978 – 1990）开始的持续而高速的发展情况。

理论上，这些空间提供了被解放的新环境，外国的资本、思想与技术通过这些环境得以持续不断而安全地输出。现实中，它们导向了一系列戏剧性的意识形态与操作方面的转型，从而重塑了中国主要城市的中心地段。上述资料和其它作品让我们得以更深入地理解中国近期具有特殊意义的历史性时刻。

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策展人 Curator

罗坤（策展人、香港大学建筑系副教授）
罗坤（Cole Roskam）是香港大学建筑系的副教授，专攻建筑史，拥有哈佛大学授予的艺术与建筑史硕士、博士学位；他的研究聚焦于建筑在中国与世界其他地区的跨国互动、交流中所扮演的中介性角色。罗坤的文章刊载于《建筑史》（Architectural History）、《灰房间》（Grey Room）、《建筑教育期刊》（Journal of Architectural Education）、《北美建筑史学家学会期刊》（Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians）等学术刊物中。罗坤近期完成著作《即兴的城市：上海的建筑与治外法权 1842—1937》（An Improvised City: Architecture and Extraterritoriality in Shanghai, 1842-1937）。目前，他正在研究中国在1972年至1990年间的建筑文化，并计划出版相关著作。罗坤的研究已获得富布赖特—海斯项目（Fulbright-Hays Program）、梅隆基金会/美国学术团体协会（Mellon Foundation / ACLS）、北美建筑史学家学会（Society of Architectural Historians）、哈佛大学、香港大学、香港特别行政区的大学教育资助委员会的支持。

Cole Roskam (Curator; Associate Professor, Hong Kong University) is associate professor of architectural history in the Department of Architecture at the University of Hong Kong. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in art and architectural history from Harvard University. His research examines architecture’s role in mediating moments of transnational interaction and exchange between China and other parts of the world. His articles and essays have appeared in Architectural History, Grey Room, the Journal of Architectural Education, and the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, among others. He recently completed a book manuscript titled An Improvised City: Architecture and Extraterritoriality in Shanghai, 1842-1937. He is currently at work on a second book-length study that explores architectural culture in China between 1972 and 1990. His research has been supported by the Fulbright-Hays Program, the Mellon Foundation/ACLS, the Society of Architectural Historians, Harvard University, the University of Hong Kong, and the University Grants Committee of the Hong Kong SAR.

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展讯 General Information

Curator 策展人: Cole Roskam 罗坤
Assistant Curator 助理策展人：Kelsi Su 苏杭

Thanks to鸣谢：
Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong 香港大学建筑学院
John Portman & Associates约翰•波特曼建筑设计事务所
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art尤伦斯当代艺术中心
Anderson Lee 李亮聪

Opening Reception and Seminar 开幕研讨会
7:00PM, Friday, April 21, 2017
2017.4.21 19:00

Date 展期：
April 21 – June 25, 2017
2017.4.21 – 6.25

Opening Hours 开放时间：
9:00AM – 6:00PM (Last entry at 7:30PM)
Opens on all national holidays.
9:00 – 18:00 (17:30最后入场)，所有国定节假日均开放。
 
Venue 地点：
HKU/Shanghai Study Centre
298 Bei Suzhou Lu (close to Sichuan Bei Lu)
Hongkou District, Shanghai
Metro Line 10 or 12, Tiantong Lu
香港大学上海学习中心
上海市虹口区北苏州路298号（近四川北路）
地铁10 或12号线 天潼路站3号口

(sscmedia@hku.hk)