Architectural Archive Research / 建筑档案研究

Definition

Architectural archive research is the source’s method for reconstructing a building corpus through archival files, newspapers, advertisements, library materials, family lists, oral leads, field verification, and correction of mistaken attributions.

Current Synthesis

The episode presents Wu Feipeng’s Lai An work as a case of bounded, evidence-sensitive urban research. A family list with question marks starts the search, but Wu treats Shanghai archives and period newspapers as stronger evidence, ultimately limiting confirmed Lai An works to 122. The method also includes correcting earlier mistakes, especially the Anna identity confusion.

Key Claims

• Building attribution requires cross-checking archives, newspapers, lists, plaques, and on-site evidence.
• More claims are not automatically better; a confirmed count can be more valuable than an inflated list.
• Shanghai archives and newspapers may preserve richer local evidence than distant homeland archives.
• Published work remains revisable when later evidence exposes a name or identity confusion.
• Public plaques are downstream knowledge products, not substitutes for continued research.

Evidence

• List evidence: 498 寻找赉安：为近代上海梧桐区创造风貌的法国建筑师 says Lai An’s grandson sent Wu a building list containing many question marks.
• Archive evidence: 498 寻找赉安：为近代上海梧桐区创造风貌的法国建筑师 says Shanghai archival material supports the 122-building conclusion, while Paris files have gaps.
• Newspaper evidence: 498 寻找赉安：为近代上海梧桐区创造风貌的法国建筑师 cites a 1934 Shanghai French-language newspaper advertisement showing 52 buildings.
• Correction evidence: 498 寻找赉安：为近代上海梧桐区创造风貌的法国建筑师 records Wu’s correction that an Anna story in his book had conflated two different Annas.

Counterevidence & Qualifications

This method does not eliminate uncertainty. Some apparently Lai An-like houses still cannot be proved, and wartime or postwar records for Anna and Lai An’s final months remain incomplete.

What Changed

• Created a research-method concept from Wu Feipeng’s Lai An case.

Related Concepts

• Urban Architectural Memory / 城市建筑记忆 - public purpose served by archive-backed attribution.
• Shanghai French Concession Architecture / 上海法租界建筑 - domain where archival attribution is applied.
• Modernist Heritage Recognition Gap / 现代主义遗产识别落差 - preservation problem that stronger evidence can reduce.
• Shanghai Multicultural Urban Culture / 上海多元城市文化 - interpretation problem requiring language and community-specific evidence.