Dong Dayou
Chinese architect
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dong Dayou (董大酉, 1899 – 1973, also Romanized as Doon Dayu[1]) was a Chinese architect and was the Chief Architect for the Greater Shanghai Plan.
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Biography
Dong Dayou graduated from the University of Minnesota.[2]: 39 At the time, the city planning approach it taught was strongly influenced by the École des Beaux-Arts principles.[2]: 39 For a short period after graduation, Dong worked as an architect in the United States.[2]: 39
In 1929, the City Planning Commission of Shanghai was tasked with preparing a Plan for Greater Shanghai.[2]: 38 Dong was appointed technical advisor to the commission.[2]: 38 The plan for developing a new city center centered on a Civic Center, the plan for which was awarded to architects Zhao Shen and Sun Ximing in an open design competition.[2]: 39 After a series of disagreements within the Planning Commission over implementing the plan, Dong was appointed Chief Architect for the revision of the master plan and for designing the individual buildings.[2]: 39
In 1935, Dong published the essay "Greater Shanghai–Greater Vision" in the American magazine The China Critic.[2]: 37 Dong wrote that Shanghai "fails to meet the requirements of a modern metropolis," citing its "narrow and crooked streets", scarce open spaces, and haphazard growth resulting in factories and residences built side-by-side.[2]: 37
Ultimately, the Greater Shanghai Plan was interrupted by Second Sino-Japanese War and then ended after the defeat of the Nationalist Government in the Chinese Civil War.[2]: 43