Thefirsthalfofthetwentiethcenturywasfraughtwithglobaltensionsandpoliticalmachinations.However,forallthedestructioninthatperiod,thesegeopoliticalconditionsinManchuriacultivatedanextraordinaryvarietyofarchitectureandurbanplanning,whichhascompletelyescapedinternationalattentionuntilnow.Withoverfortycarefullychosenimages,Ultra-Modernism:ArchitectureandModernityinManchuriaisthefirstbookinEnglishthatillustratesManchuria’sencounterwithmodernitythroughitsbuiltenvironment.EdwardDenisonandGuangyuRentakereadersthroughRussia’searlyterritorialclaims,Japan’sconstructionoftheSouthManchuriaRailway(SMR),andtheestablishmentofManchukuoin1932.ThebookexaminesindetailthecreationofmoderncitiesalongtheSMRandfocusesonthreeofthemostimportantmodernurbancentresinManchuria:theRussian-dominatedcityofHarbin,theportofDalian,andthenewcapitalofManchukuo,Hsinking(Changchun).
Likesomuchoftheworldoutside‘theWest’duringthetwentiethcentury,Manchuria’sencounterwithmodernityismerelyafaintwhisperdrownedoutbythedeafeningmasternarrativeofWestern-centricmodernism.ThisbookattemptstoredressanimbalanceinthemodernhistoryofChinabystudyingtheimpactofJapanonarchitectureandplanningbeyondthedepredationsoftheSino-JapaneseWar.
EdwardDenisonisanarchitecturalhistorianandphotographerbasedinLondon,whereheislecturerinarchitecturalhistoryandtheoryattheBartlettSchoolofArchitecture,UCL.
