China Baptist Publication Building
How to let anyone enjoy learning architectural history through immersive technology? This is a mixed reality(MR) experience design reimagining architect László Hudec’s China Baptist Publication Building(b. 1932) through fictional narrative and digital interaction. I worked on narrative design and visual assets for this project.
In April 2025, we presented this project at the Symposium on Heritage in the Digital Age alongside other professors, students, and practitioners in China.
TOOL
GUIDANCE
Unity, Illustrator
Prof. Ian Zhang, Prof. Lala Zuo
DATE
COLLABORATOR
Oct 2024 - Dec 2024
Yanrui Shao, Huiwei Wen
Architectural Research for Narrative Design
KEY BUILDING CHARACTERISTIC
Our team investigated the architectural style and found that this building innovatively blends Art Deco/Expressionism with Gothic elements such as the “eagle-beak” roof decorations and the vertical layered facades. This was rare in Shanghai at the time.
The building has been used as a publication office and university space. Interestingly, the architect held his own architectural firm of 60-80 employees on the eighth floor of this building for 17 years before moving to the US.
ARCHITECT LÁZSLÓ HUDEC
The architect's memorable background caught our attention. He escaped to China during the WW1 breakout in Austria-Hungary, crossing through Russian border with a fake passport. Yet he impressively built over 60 buildings in Shanghai from 1920 to 1947, including Shanghai tourism landmarks such as the Wukang Mansion and the Park Hotel.
We learned that very few know his personal stories and took this as a storytelling design opportunity.
Defining Narration -Collecting Original Sources as Visual Assets
Our team found every detail of the architect's story with visits to the "Hudec Code" exhibition in Shanghai, to noting down documentary clips from “The Man Who Changed Shanghai”.
Below are the key primary and secondary sources that we decided to work our narration around.
