|
|
Article: Exporting American Architecture, 1870-2000.(Book Review)
- Article from:
- Journal of World History
- Article date:
- September 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 University of Hawaii Press. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Exporting American Architecture, 1870-2000. By JEFFREY W. CODY. London: Routledge, 2003. 304 pp. $135.00 (cloth); $48.95 (paper).
When the International Banking Corporation remodeled its Shanghai branch in 1920, it revealed, according to Jeffrey Cody, "how American architecture was exported both as a set of technological systems and as cultural icons of power" (p. 63). Facing stiff competition, the IBC wanted a showcase modeled on its neoclassic Wall Street headquarters. Yet, the Chinese client either "missed the aesthetic connection" or "remained mute" about the symbolism, but he surely noticed the building's social space, in which Westerner and Chinese were ...