Chinese Ambassador Pays Tribute to the Memory of World-Famous Hungarian Architect at BME

The trailer of a documentary series about the life and work of László Hudec, a former student of BME, was presented at the Hungarian-Chinese cultural conference entitled Shared Fate, Shared Future at BME. The event was co-organized by the Faculty of Architecture and the Hungarian-Chinese Friendship Association.

Dean Tamás Varga

László Hudec (or Hugyecz), best known for designing the Art Deco Park Hotel in Shanghai, studied architecture at BME between 1911 and 1914. His adventurous life took him across continents: he escaped from a Siberian POW camp to Shanghai, lost his Czechoslovakian citizenship when Germany annexed the country, and was later appointed Honorary Consul of Hungary in Shanghai after acquiring Hungarian citizenship. He opened his architecture practice in Shanghai and designed over 100 buildings. In the 1940s he moved to Europe, and later to the United States, where he taught at Berkeley in the 1950s.

Today, 31 of his buildings have architectural landmark status in China.

As part of the event, Tamás Varga, dean of the Faculty of Architecture, and Gong Tao, ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China, visited Hudec’s former classrooms and discussed the world-renowned architect’s legacy. Ambassador Gong Tao also met with BME Rector Hassan Charaf to explore opportunities for future student exchange programmes.

Ambassador Gong Tao

The five-part Hungarian-language documentary series, entitled The Life of László Hugyecz, began airing on state television channel M5 in early September, with the final episode scheduled to air on Saturday, October 4, at 5 p.m.

Rector's Office, Communications Directorate
photos: Képkocka