Q:I am looking to do my thesis research on architecture in China. Can you give me advice or direct me to potential sites in Shanghai that I should check out? How do Chinese security people feel about cameras and video devices?

Potential site of the Shanghai Design Centre. Photo by Pierre Lo, General Land Asia

A:Shanghai is a very good choice to begin your research for the design of a school of architecture. Being the center of Chinese commerce and the vast amount of development that is currently taking place, you will find Shanghai to be an exciting city with an energy surrounding it much like Tokyo, London and New York.

Your question is very timely, as the Chinese government is currently developing a wonderful program to implement a Shanghai Design Centre. This Centre will be similar in nature to the International Design Center New York (IDCNY) or the Merchandise Mart in Chicago. The difference is that this Centre will be used to promote China as a design-centered society that has creativity at its core. The Chinese government is tired of the view that China is the place where design, art, music, movies, etc., are pirated and copied and that little innovation or creativity actually takes place.

The idea of the Shanghai Design Centre is to not only have design manufacturers and retailers inside the facility, but to also house associations of design professionals (architecture, interior design, landscape, industrial, product design, etc.) and, potentially, design firms. It is meant also to be a showcase of Chinese design and a place for design resources, including digital resources and services, such as CAD, printing, Internet communications, etc.

The Shanghai Design Centre is to be officially announced sometime this coming fall, and the most likely potential site is on the Pudong side of Shanghai (the east bank of the Huang Po River) directly on Century Ave., across from China's largest tower, the Jia Biao Tower. Feel free to visit this site as the most likely location for this exciting project.

Another interesting new project of interest would be the new JW Marriott Hotel at Tomorrow Square, which is in the Central Business District (CBD) of Shanghai. This CBD is also called Pu Xi (pronounced Poo-Shee). The JW Marriott boasts the greatest height of a library in the world and is worth the visit as this structure provides a mixed use of hotel, residential, retail, spa, library and restaurants that must be experienced to appreciate the ingenuity of Chinese design.

	Tian An Centre, Tomorrow Square. Photo courtesy of Screampoint

Across the street from the JW Marriott in Tomorrow Square is the Tian An Centre. You will recognize the building by looking for the lobby that has the showroom for Mercedes Benz. The entire building was designed, constructed and is currently managed by a Building Information Model (BIM). Sometimes referred to as 5D, which is the linking of live data to a 3D digital model of the building, Tian An Centre is one of the first buildings in the world to truly incorporate a digital model as its core for operations and management. Walk through the lobby and into the café and you will witness technology that is transparent to the process, yet highly functional.

The City of Shanghai has recently made efforts to assist in saving its architectural heritage by implementing strict historic preservation laws that developers must follow. For the past 15 years, Shanghai has been stripped of its architectural heritage due to Western design firms experimenting with architectural elements, focused on the single building they are designing, taking the context of the neighborhood out of the equation. Dotted all over this enormous city are architectural elements that seem to be strewn out of an architectural toolbox. Popping huge, ugly buildings up in Shanghai at the whim of Western designers was the status quo. Western designers and architects should be ashamed of themselves, as over the past 15 years they took advantage of an economic situation and exploited their poor design skills to the detriment of the Chinese people.

Pudong, Shanghai. Photo by Pierre Lo, General Land Asia

When walking around Shanghai, especially in Pudong, you will see what I mean. Buildings are out of scale to people, the environment and to other buildings in the neighborhood. The Chinese government has gotten the message. The Historic Preservation Law puts an emphasis on finding a visual vocabulary that celebrates the past while embracing the future. Warehouses that were torn down up to 12 months ago for the construction of new buildings are now being protected and renovated, providing a wonderful opportunity to celebrate Chinese culture, history and its people through design. A wonderful area to go to see the beginning phase of this process is just north of Tomorrow Square, across the Suzhou Creek in an area called Zhabei. You will see flour warehouses that have been converted to restaurants, bank warehouses converted to boutique hotels and old government buildings that are now the headquarters for fashion designers like Louis Vuitton and Armani. You can also see this transformation of old buildings into new establishments along a famous stretch of waterfront called The Bund.

In Shanghai, the use of still and video cameras is okay, but if you are unsure, it is acceptable to ask permission. In highly sensitive areas, in places like Tiananmen Square in Beijing, it is probably not a good idea to do this. Common sense rules in China, meaning, if you think something may be too sensitive in nature to digitally record, then don't do it. And if you are unsure, just ask. The Chinese are very friendly and kind people and will not steer you in the wrong direction.

Enjoy your time in China… Xie, Xie!

Thanks to Paul Doherty, AIA. He is the managing director of General Land Corp., a full-service, global real estate development firm with a focus on the Asia Pacific market. He is an author, educator, analyst and consultant to Fortune 500 organizations, global government agencies and prominent institutions and is on the board of directors of the International Facility Management Association (IFMA). He can be contacted at pdoherty@general-land.com.

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