Internationally acclaimed architects and professors Jenchieh Hung and Kulthida Songkittipakdee, co-founders and principal architects of the Thailand-based award-winning architectural firm Jenchieh Hung + Kulthida Songkittipakdee / HAS design and research, have published a new book titled Shanghai Architecture Guide: Views of Jenchieh Hung + Kulthida Songkittipakdee, published by Thai publishing company Li-Zenn. The book explores their architectural theories, design perspectives, and critical thinking through an examination of contemporary architecture in Shanghai, with a particular emphasis on the city’s context, culture, history, and urban environment. In the preface, Professor Wu Jiang, President of the Architects Regional Council Asia (ARCASIA) and Professor at Tongji University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning, describes Professor Jenchieh Hung and Professor Kulthida Songkittipakdee as renowned Thai architects with a broad global perspective and a strong aptitude for cross-cultural thinking. Through extensive collaboration with Chinese architects and their experience as professors/visiting professors at Tongji University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning since 2019, they have developed a profound understanding of architecture and urban development in China. The book represents one of their endeavors to introduce Chinese architecture to Thailand, offering a highly condensed portrayal of contemporary architecture in Shanghai, China’s largest and most developed metropolitan region. Over the past decades, Shanghai has attracted architects from around the world, establishing itself as one of the most prominent global architectural hubs. Through this book, readers can gain a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of Shanghai’s architectural landscape and its evolving urban context.

The book was written and developed from 2019 onward, during the period when Professor Jenchieh Hung served as professor/visiting professor at Tongji University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning, and later served as practice track professor at Bangkok University, adjunct/visiting professor at King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi, and visiting professor at Chulalongkorn University. Professor Jenchieh Hung gratefully acknowledges the guidance and support of Associate Professor Wang Yi, Chair of the Department of Architecture at Tongji University, and Associate Professor Hu Yanzhe, Vice Chair of the Department of Architecture at Tongji University, whose cooperation and academic support contributed to the development of this research and writing on contemporary architecture in Shanghai. Shanghai Architecture Guide: Views of Jenchieh Hung + Kulthida Songkittipakdee marks another step toward strengthening international academic ties and creating new opportunities for collaboration in architectural education and urban planning research, while contributing to the international exchange and broader understanding of contemporary Chinese architecture.