Abstract
Why and how have so many grand theaters been built so quickly in China? How were those designs selected in the process of decision making? How do these theaters influence the ambience of a city, and how do they provide public space and amenities for a vibrant civic life? What is the design language of the grand theaters?
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Notes
- 1.
The figure of Shanghai’s GDP is from Shanghai Statistic Annual Report, 2012.
- 2.
The construction history of Shanghai Grand Theater is mainly referenced from Yu (2014). Some situations and facts are taken from the authors’ on-site investigation.
- 3.
The operation fee of Shanghai Grand Theater is from its annual report of 2015 and from the interview of general manager Ms Zhang Xiaoding, engineer Wu Zhihua and executive officer Pan Lan on July 2, 2017.
- 4.
The situation of Oriental Art Center was established in an interview with Ms Li Yan, deputy manager of the Center, on July 4, 2017; and from the authors’ on-site investigation.
- 5.
The details of the operation of the Oriental Art Center were learnt in an interview with Li Yan, deputy manager, on July 4, 2017.
- 6.
The history of Cultural Square is partly from the author’s experiences, and partly from website, https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E6%96%87%E5%8C%96%E5%B9%BF%E5%9C%BA, Accessed on July 22, 2018.
- 7.
The design of Shanghai Cultural Square is partly from Liu Xin, “Shanghai zuishen de dixia juchang—Shanghai wenhua juchang sheji” (The deepest underground theater in Shanghai—Cultural Square), Shanghai jianshe keji (Shanghai Construction Science), No. 6, 2010, pp. 1–4, and the website of BBB, http://www.beyerblinderbelle.com/projects/119_shanghai_cultural_plaza?ss=performing_arts, Accessed on July 21, 2018.
- 8.
The facts of Concert Hall, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra are from I. Arata, ‘Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Concert Hall’, id + c (interior design + construction), Feb 2015, 94–100; F. Xu, X. Hou, C. Ma and X. Lv, ‘The Urban Box—design of the Shanghai symphony hall’, Time + Architecture, 31(1), 2015, 106–113.
- 9.
About the design of Poly Theater, see T. Ando, ‘The challenges of creating a cathedral to culture’, A + U, Special Issue on Poly Grand Theater, 3, 2015, 24–27; and also J. Chen, X. Qi and J. Chen, ‘Multi-collisions in the kaleidoscope—a review of Shanghai Jiading Poly grand theater’, Time + Architecture, 1, 2015, 120–125.
- 10.
“German Town” is one of the “One City Nine Towns” launched by Shanghai government in 2001. Along with German Town designed by German architects, the other towns are Thames Town designed by British architects, Italian Town, Holland Town, Scandinavian Town and etc. See Xue and Zhou (2007).
- 11.
According to authors’ preliminary statistics, Shanghai has more than 18,000 theater seats, and Hong Kong has more than 15,000. The GDP per capita of Hong Kong was US$43,600 in 2016. See Gross Domestic Products, Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong Government, 2016.
- 12.
The management situation is taken from the interview of general manager Ms Zhang Xiaoding, engineer Wu Zhihua and executive officer Pan Lan on July 3, 2017.
- 13.
The average price of Shanghai Grand Theater is from its 2015–16 Annual Report. The other prices are taken from the authors’ record of theaters’ online ticket sales from 2014 to 2017.
- 14.
The salary level is taken from Shanghai Statistic Annual Book, 2016.
- 15.
China Statistic Annual Report, 2015.
- 16.
In 2015, Shanghai’s GDP per capita was over RMB100,000, that was around US$16,600, according to Jiefang Ribao (Liberation Daily), March 1, 2016. http://newspaper.jfdaily.com/jfrb/html/2016-03/01/content_176914.htm, accessed Aug 23, 2017.
- 17.
In 2016, per capita annual disposable income of China’s urban residents was US$5054, with an Engel coefficient of 30.1%, which declines by 0.5% from 2015 and approaches the 20–30% standard of affluence specified by the United Nations. China Statistic Annual Report, 2017.
- 18.
This statement is true not only in China, but also in China’s aid building projects in Asia and Africa, see L. Beeckmans, ‘The Architecture of nation-building in Africa as a development aid project: Designing the capitols of Kinshasa (Congo) and Dodoma (Tanzania) in the post-independence years’, Progress in Planning, online May 10, 2017.
- 19.
See Yu (2014), and the websites of the relevant theaters.
- 20.
This is taken from an investigation made by Shanghai Investment Consultancy Ltd. in 2014. From Shen et al. 2016. No. 1–5 of impressive cultural spaces are Oriental Pearl (TV tower), The Bund, Yu Garden, Shanghai Museum, China Arts Palace (China Pavilion in the World Expo).
- 21.
The data are taken from the 2015–16 Annual Report of Shanghai Grand Theater.
- 22.
It is estimated that the design fees of international architects are around four times higher than those of local architects. Organising an international design competition involves compensation fees for the shortlisted firms, logistics for meetings and a jury panel. See Xue (2010).
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Acknowledgements
This chapter is part of a study supported by Research Grant Council, Hong Kong government, project No. CityU 11658816. The author heartily thanks Huang Wenfu and Li Shuan for their referring of Shanghai Grand Theater; the introduction and leading visit of Zhang Xiaoding, Pan Lan and Engineer Wu from Shanghai Grand Theater and Li Yan from Shanghai Oriental Art Center. Thanks to Professor Zhang Liang for his advice on the Shanghai Grand Theater.
During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Shanghai and the other Chinese cities were engulfed by political turbulence. Cinemas remained open, but were filled mainly with documentary films such as “Chairman Mao meeting foreign guests” or dull, formulaic feature films about the revolution. Foreign movies with exotic flavour were admired, but these were imported only from China’s comrades, North Korea, Romania, Albania and Yugoslavia. As a primary school pupil, I went to see a film every month or two. No matter how banal the topic (from today’s viewpoint), seeing a film was an event for me in those years. An admission ticket could excite kids for weeks. Most of the cinemas in Shanghai were built in the 1930s, some in the art deco style. During the turmoil of the Cultural Revolution, cinemas were maintained as organs of revolutionary propaganda. Before a film formally started, several slides were presented, with the last slide showing the word “Jing” (silence) with a full moon hung above still water. The ambient lighting was dimmed and your heart was haunted.
Factories and the countryside replaced school in the revolutionary years. In rural threshing grounds, a white cloth was suspended from two bamboo posts when the sky became dark. On his bicycle, an itinerant projectionist carrying old films brought happiness to the remote rural villages. The stories were old and known to everyone, but the films relieved the fatigue of intense rural labour.
When the Cultural Revolution ended and China returned to normal life, Chinese and foreign films/plays filled cinemas and theatres. As I entered the university and worked toward my professional goals, seeing films was one of my many pastimes and social activities. I had a chance to join a team to design theatres and film studios, and I studied this building type attentively. In Texas, I participated in the renovation of a large, old church with choir and musical functions. During the past 10 years, I have paid attention to China’s newly built grand theatres and visited dozens of performing arts venues in more than 10 cities. In these palace-like grand theatres, I have viewed ballets, symphonies, dramas, musicals and quartets by both Chinese and foreign artists. A ticket can still arouse my excitement for weeks and even months. Walking into these theatres, the sacred feeling in my heart is no less than it was in childhood. The theatre is a noble palace indeed, and it elevates our life.
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Xue, C.Q. (2019). To Be Cultural Capital: Grand Theaters in Shanghai. In: Xue, C. (eds) Grand Theater Urbanism . Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-7868-3_2
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