Author: Hank M.Chao   Time: 2008-12-15 11:46:21

 

H: I will say design and arts have been playing very important roles in Shanghai. Shanghaiese people have had their own good eyes and unique taste for thousands of years in the Chinese history. And the design had become very multi-cultural after the invasion of the people from the West during the World War I & II. The western people had brought a brand new vision, concept and ideas of thinking from color, styles, patterns and almost everything in design. The East and West never share the same point of view in design. That is why the bombing and conflicts of these two very different culture would create a much greater impact in design thinking for Shanghainse people.  People gradually have learned how to mix with East and West elements with harmony through years. Even now, after the growth of the economy of China, people are getting to learn how to play with contemporary and old classical style, or to mix with the new and old. Similar to the background of the New York City, Shanghai has been the gate of China for the past 100 years. Shanghai people have learned or I should say love to get to know the most trendy things, the new fresh stuff to them are always welcoming. In terms of the word, fashion is the symbol of the one’s social rank and identity. From this point of view, I might say Shanghai is very much like Paris.

 

Q: Is it a new concept (from the last 50 years), or has design always played a part in Shanghainese culture in one way or another?

 

H: (the same answer as the above question)

 

 

H: This is a tough and good question you are asking. What is so called “Shanghai Style”? I guess lots of designers have been searching for this answer too.  I will say Shanghai Style is a mixture of everything just like the culture of Shanghai itself. It’s everything about East and West, old and new, contemporary and classical, antique and modern…etc. After absorbing all of the good parts from the world, I guess Shanghai might fight for her own signature years later.  That I can gradually smell it….

 

 

H: Full of lots of excellent design competitors and good clients would love to accept brand new things and ideas.

 

 

H: MoHen provides not only high quality design services but also teach our clients how to have a better life style, to assist our clients to make more profits from their business and to create a higher value for their corporate.  We help our clients to find their identities and walk through the problems with them. Instead of setting up our design signature as the design goal, our goal is to set up our client’s signature.

 

 

H: Um….design is a problem solving process. We always define the scope of the design problems first, such as the client’s needs, taste, interest and the condition of the site we are given. Afterwards, we will take that as a start point of design and try to find the best answers for all of the questions or problems we are facing; of course, those include style, color, and function….etc.

 

 

H: After people are able to afford to get better stuff and higher quality of materials and goods, people in Shanghai eager to get anything the “newest”, most “fashionable” or most “Hi-Tech” things to feed their desire of catching up the world. They fight for the best by all means in order to compensate the sense of poor from the past.  It is understandable from the point of view of the history since couple of hundreds of years ago; China had been one of the strongest countries in the world. Now, they are fighting to get the pride back.

 

 

H: You got to be joking, of course our clients are always demanding. That is why they hire us to solve the hardest problems for them and that is the value we may provide them. 99% of the projects come with a budget control. We need to use and spend the money cleverly for our clients. A good design does not equal to high cost. I think design is to create more value than what the product is actually worth, don’t you think that is the only reason we can make for living….?

 

 

H: I guess more or less we are affected, however, it seems to be not as bad as I expected so far. It could be worse later. China might be less affected in comparison with other countries in the world. I guess if China can keep up their domestic growth, hopefully, it will not be that bad.

 

 

H: Yes, it becomes much more competitive. Lots of people are trained more professionally through the schools than before. New technologies help people to   absorb new ideas and exchange information much more rapidly. Internet helps people to collect information much more easily. I guess pretty soon, we might  have brand new style of design after this kind of brain-storming internationally.

 

 

H: From my personal observation, I think design in Shanghai first absorbs and learns from culture through out the world, mix with its own culture and design language then getting started to feed out a new “Shanghai Style” to the world.

 

Q: What role do international design fairs play in the process?

 

H: You mean the Expo in 2010? I guess it will give a larger impact of design ideas interchangeably. Just like those international fairs had been held other places in the world. When Mies Van Der Rode showed the pavilion in the international fair in Barcelona, he helped people to think about the feasibility of a much more simple design language to can be applied in design.

 

 

H: Well, I think the fast growing market will give more opportunities to the people to fulfill their ideas and dreams. Good designers will need a stage for them to play and practice their crazy thoughts. I think Shanghai may provide the stage and so does Dubai.

 

 

H: I think so, design will melt into one under different culture and disciplines, or design will be affected or even altered interact.

 

 

H: Oh, ya….I do think design plays one of the most critical roles in the community. People will need better things after they got the basic needs. And this is when the design comes in and plays its role. MoHen got lots of people from different background, not only from Shanghai, but Portugal, Italy, Japan, Malaysia….and lots of different places. We all play “design” together in a very storm-striking way.

 

 

H: Artists and designers are respected in the Chinese society for centuries. I guess this also come along with its own historical background.

 

 

H: Oh, yes, there are a lot and getting more and more. I guess it’s pretty much like Dubai as well. Brand new design and building keep popping out from the ground and you will see new things happening everyday. Grand Hyatt by SOM, the new skyscraper by KPF, and there are some interesting “office community” happening here, which is kind of interesting in a new way of office building. Xin Tian Di is worth visiting too, it’s a place re-built under the basis of the typical Shanghai ordinary people houses. The buildings along the bond and Huang Pu River are some antique buildings left during the World War II and had been renovated into lots of trendy stores….etc..

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