Three Musketeers: A Story about Allied Architects and Its Founders (April 22, 2019)

The BU Center for the Study of Asia is pleased to present

Ms. ZHANG Qin 张琴

Three Musketeers: A Story about the firm Allied Architects and Its Founders 三個人的江湖：我們是華蓋

Monday, April 22, 2019 from 12-1:30 pm

121 Bay State Road, Pardee School of Global Studies,
Boston University

Lunch will be provided!

Abstract: 

Allied Architects was one of the largest private architectural firms in China, founded in 1932 and enjoying a long history. From 1932-1952, Allied Architects undertook more than 200 building projects in Nanjing, Wuxi, Shanghai, Chongqing, Kunming, Guizhou, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and other cities. Its three founders, Zhao Shen, Chen Zhi, and Tong Jun, all graduated from Tsinghua University and later earned degrees at the University of Pennsylvania. As the most influential architects of their time, they developed a broad network of friends that included Long Yun 龍雲 (the warlord of Yunnan Province), Sun Mingjiu 孫明久 (the General of the Northeastern Army who defeated Chiang Kai-shek during the Xi’an Incident), Sun Liren孫立人 (the General of the Expeditionary Army), journalist and diplomat Dong Xianguang 董顯光, as well as Ye Zhupei 葉渚沛, the founder of China’s modern metallurgical industry. Their intertwined experience represents the complexity of that period, as well as the conflict of fates of this first generation of Western-trained Chinese intellectuals.

About the speaker:

Ms. Zhang Qin earned her B.A. degree in Architecture from Southeastern University, and her MSc and PhD in Urban Planning at Tongji University (China). She is devoted to the conservation of historical and cultural heritage. Zhang Qin recently published the book A Forgotten Master, and has lectured in schools of architecture at Harvard, the University of Pennsylvania, and others locations. Her diverse projects have been honored by both the Chinese government and UNESCO. In 2006, Ms. Zhang established the Ruan Yisan Heritage Foundation, of which she serves as Secretary-General and Vice-President.