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Damaged historic villa to be rebuilt

By Li Qian | 19:34 UTC+8 June 9, 2017 | Online Edition

A real estate group and the owner of the protected historic villa in Jing’an District will work together to rebuild it after its illegal demolition has triggered wide outrage.

Meanwhile Jing’an district’s housing authority will step up efforts to strengthen routine checks to catch any violations against the protection of historic buildings.

A further investigation is still under way. “We have set up an investigation team. We will not shield any violations, and anyone who violates relevant rules will be severely punished,” said Yao Kai, deputy director of Jing'an District.

The incident made headlines earlier this week after Shanghai Television received tip-offs from angry residents and aired it. Officials were blamed for ignoring the illegal demolition for half a year. And photos showed a steel and concrete structure has replaced the red-tiled-roof villa.

The villa was dismantled because it was too dilapidated to be repaired, said the mother of the property owner.

In a meeting with government officials, the woman, surnamed Wang, said the villa, built in 1930, was on a slant and in extremely poor conditions with extensive rot in the beams. Designer and workers found it was hard to reinforce the structure and finally decided to remove all of them.

“We bought the house because we love it, and we hadn’t intended to knock down. But for our safety concern, we had no other choice,” she said. “But I have to admit that we’ve made a severe mistake because we ignored the fact of its protected status.”

She added that the family is willing to receive punishment and cooperate with the Jing’an Real Group to rebuild the villa.

“We have obtained the original architectural drawing, and are collecting historic archives, including photos and videos, from neighbors and residents,” said Shi Yunlun, an executive with Jing’an Real Estate Group.

Some of the removed bricks and woods have been collected from the scene and preserved. For the lost parts, the group has gained help from police and traced them via roadside monitoring cameras.

The expenses will be covered by the property owner, Shi said.

The three-floor English-style villa, on the 888 Julu Road, was one of the 12 garden villas built in 1930 by the famous Hungarian architect Laszlo Hudec. They were given historic protection status by the Shanghai government in 1999. Their facades and function for residence couldn’t been changed.

An investigation found the villa was sold at the price of 80 million yuan in February 2015. The owner is a woman who is studying overseas, according to the statement released on Thursday.

The buyer, whose identity wasn’t revealed by the government, had signed papers concerning the protected status of the building and promised not to change the facade and interior decoration. But still, the villa was knocked down without permits, according to the statement.

According to the statement, urban management officials first went to check the scene after residents reported about illegal structures on March 31. But they didn’t find any damages to the building.

On May 18, complaints reached the district’s housing authority. This time, officials found the villa had almost been totally dismantled. Workers were ordered to stop work but they didn’t listen, it said.

Wang, the owner’s mother, who was out of contact for leaving the wrong telephone number, was reached by officials on June 2. An official notice, demanding the construction to be halted, was released on Tuesday, it said.

“Even it is restored, it’s just a copycat,” said Cao Yongkang, director with the International Research Center for Architectural Heritage Conservation at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

He added, “The historic values which were carried by the villa has gone with the demolition. To be honest, it has been killed.”

According to him, the official order to rebuild the villa is rather a way of punishment than protection. Further, such act should be identified as illegal, which means criminal punishment like jail terms should be involved. However, currently, only fines will be imposed.

The 12 villas on the Julu Road were early works of Hungarian architect Laszlo Hudec, who enjoyed big fame in Shanghai for designing many of Shanghai’s landmarks.

Hudec was said to have designed more than 100 buildings in Shanghai between 1918 and 1947. Many of them have been given historic protection status by the Shanghai government, like Park Hotel, Normandie Apartments (Wukang Building) and the Grand Theater.

Earlier this year, the city has launched a new census of historical buildings, revealed in a meeting held in May in response to local political adviser’s proposals for enhanced efforts to protect the city’s historical buildings.

It was also revealed in the meeting that Shanghai has identified 1,058 outstanding historical buildings since 1989. They include more than 7 million square meters of shikumen neighborhoods.

Metro


 

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