Lịch sử ngôi biệt thự được mệnh danh "Ngọc trai Thượng Hải" ra sao?

nhân dịp kỉ niệm 100 năm xây dựng, nhà sử học và cư dân địa phương chia sẻ lịch sử phong phú, hào nhoáng của Dinh thự Wukang. 

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Wukang Mansion (biệt thự) was designed almost 100 years ago by the Hungarian-Slovak architect László Hudec, whose life experience only adds to the building’s legendary (huyền thoại) status.

...Built in 1924 using reinforced concrete (bê tông cốt thép), Wukang Mansion covers 1,580 square meters, with a total floor space of 9,275 square meters over eight floors. Hudec, an employee of the American architectural firm R.A. Curry at the time, drew up the plans while French company Remond & Collet undertook (đảm nhiệm) construction.

The street layout around Wukang Mansion brings to mind (gợi nhớ) the cities of France. The book explains that, unlike the crossroad junctions commonly seen in Chinese cities, intersections in Paris are mostly around public squares from which several roads radiate (lộ ra) outward. One example is the square on which the Arc de Triomphe stands, a center point connecting 12 avenues. This means that the intersection of two roads can form an acute angle (góc nhọn).

One typical feature (đặc điểm tiêu biểu) of the apartments was a fold-down ironing board (bàn ủi quần áo gấp gọn) behind the front door, allowing suit-wearing managers to have freshly ironed clothes every day. The building also incorporated (hợp nhất) the kind of personal space valued in Western society, with the initial design including separate elevators for residents and their nannies. The corridors were also made to be spacious (rộng rãi) and light, allowing for greater distance between each household.

Wukang Mansion did not welcome its first Chinese tenant until 1942, when it was purchased by Kung Ling-wei, the daughter of a wealthy Shanghai banker.

source: Sixth Tone,