Unsurprisingly, with an increasing number of architects and designers wanting to take advantage of China’s emerging construction, many UK architects are looking east to find streets paved with gold. This programme seeks to give them the basics of how – or whether – to take the leap.
The programme speaks to a number of architects about their anecdotes and advice about dealing with or moving to China. It will be helpful for construction professionals in English-speaking countries (and beyond), but will be most relevant to UK (where the biggest architectural drought exists), to China’s biggest trading partner, Australia, as well as to architects, etc from the US and Canada.
Key learning points:
- Basic information about China: culture, geography, living standards and language
- How the construction industry works – the role of the architect and engineers in Chinese construction – and a guide to key regulations
- The role of the Design Institute
- Construction standards and liabilities
- General working practices
About the contributors
Dr Chang Ying, Planning specialist and consultant, XJTLU (personal capacity), is the Principal Investigator in a commissioned project by the Urban Unit at the World Bank entitled "The regulatory framework review of affordable housing programmes in SH"
Theodoros Dounas, architect from Greece, is a registered and licensed architect who has participated in over 60 commissioned architectural studies along with architectural competitions. From the scale of a rural house to large educational facilities and from a small arts pavilion in an urban forest to Chinese research on educational facilities. He is also a world authority on Blender 3d.
Ben Spaeth, Chartered architect at Spaeth Architekten Stuttgart/ Shanghai, has a specialism in room acoustics and the design of opera houses. He has worked on several commisions in China - in Sichuan and Shanghai
Huang Chongyao (also known as Coyee) is a journalist with a degree in journalism from Beijing and a Master of Social Science in Corporate Communication, Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is currently the restaurant and social policy correspondent on a newspaper in Jiangsu Province.
Sir Terry Farrell, CBE is considered to be one of the UK's leading architect planners with offices in London and Hong Kong. In East Asia, notable projects include Incheon airport in Seoul, Beijing Station and Guangzhou Station in China (the largest in the world). In Hong Kong he has designed the Peak Tower, Kowloon Station development and the British Consulate. Throughout his career, he has championed urban planning and helped shape government policy on key issues. As recognition of this, in 2013 he was voted the individual who made the Greatest Contribution to London’s Planning and Development over the last 10 years. He is currently leading an independent review into architecture after being asked by Culture Minister Ed Vaizey to make recommendations on promoting high standards of design.
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