Royal Asiatic Society Shanghai – Comparing the Architecture of Colonial Rangoon & Concession-era Shanghai – 12/4/16

Tuesday, 12th April 2016
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Comparing the Architecture of Colonial Rangoon & Concession-era Shanghai

Speaker: Kate Baker & Tess Johnston

Tess Johnston and Kate Baker have traveled together to Yangon on two separate occasions to view the fading glory that was once colonial Rangoon. They will share their descriptions and photographs, both then and now, of some of the most significant colonial architecture in Asia. Places of interest include the legendary Pegu Club, one of the most exclusive clubs in Asia and how it looks today, and the Secretariat, the massive government building in which Britain’s bureaucracy flourished. They will ask the question,   “Can comparisons be made to the colonial architecture in Shanghai?”

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Tess Johnston first came to Shanghai in 1981 to work at the American Consulate General and in 1996, after over thirty years in the diplomatic service, she retired and stayed on to research, write, and lecture. She and her co-author, Shanghai photographer Deke Erh (Er Dongqiang), have published over 25 books, including fifteen volumes on Western architecture and the expatriate experience in old China.

Kate Baker lived in Shanghai for four years and in the Asia region for nearly 20 years. Collaborating with other Shanghai explorers, Kate wrote a guide detailing walks outside of Shanghai as well as the fifth Shanghai Walks book “The Wheres Where of the Who’s Who of Old Shanghai”. Her book entitled, “Jiading: Centuries of History, Decades of Change” was published in 2015. She currently resides in Washington, DC.

More details here