László Hudec

László Hudec, also known as Ladislav Hudec, was an architect active in Shanghai from 1918 to 1945 and responsible for some of that city's most notable structures. Major works include the Park Hotel, the Grand Theater, the Joint Savings and Loan builidng and the combined Baptist Publications and Christian Literature Society buildings. Hudec's style evolved during his active period, from the eclectic neo-classicism popular in the early 20th century to art deco and moderne buildings toward the later part of his career. Although some of his buildings have been lost in the intervening decades, many survive.

Hudec was born in 1893 in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (his father was born in a nearby village of Micina, Slovakia). He studied architecture at Budapest University from 1911 to 1914. When the first world war began he enlisted, but was captured by the Russian Army in 1916 and was sent to a prison camp in Siberia. While being transferred, he jumped from a train near the Chinese border and made his way to Shanghai, where he joined the American architectural office R.A. Curry. In 1925 he left to start his own firm, and was responsible for at least 37 buildings up to 1941.

Hudec's masterpiece is usually considered to be the 22-story Park Hotel, on Nanjing Road across from People's Square. It was the tallest building in the city until the 1980s, and is still a local landmark.

László Hudec died in 1958 in California. He is burried at the evangelical cemetery in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia.

References

[http://gateway.uvic.ca/spcoll/Arch/Hud.html Special Collections at the University of Victoria, British Columbia]

[http://www.china.org.cn/english/2001/Sep/19723.htm Exhibit Highlights Shanghai Hotel and its Designer]

[http://www.hudec.sh Year of Hudec]