AIA INTERNATIONAL REGION CONFERENCE, SHANGHAI

In mid-November I flew East, to represent the chapter at the AIA International Region conference in Shanghai. Titled "China: New Realities” - it was an exposition on the culmination of more than 20 years of extraordinary growth, which has brought China’s architecture to the forefront of architectural practice.

The opening reception was held at Shanghai’s classic art-deco landmark, the Fairmont Peace Hotel on the Bund, and welcomed over 200 delegates and speakers, on a mild Autumn evening. The views of the Financial District across the river were stunning!

For the next three mornings, we gathered at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Shanghai’s new Pudong District. Pudong is now home to the Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone, Shanghai Stock Exchange, and many of Shanghai's best-known buildings, such as the Oriental Pearl Tower, the Jin Mao Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center, and the Shanghai Tower. The amount of development since 1993, that has taken place on this less developed land across from the Old City, is staggering! 

The conference mornings included lectures and presentations by top architects in China and East Asia – keynote speakers included Kris Yao, Hon. FAIA, Rocco Yim, Hon. FAIA, Li Xiaodong, FAIA, Moira Moser, FAIA, and Yungho Chang, FAIA. 

One especially interesting segment of the second morning, was the presentations by all the International Region chapters of their UN Sustainability Development Goals initiatives. I presented our chapter’s initiatives, starting with UN SDG No.13: Climate Action. I briefed the delegates on how our chapter recognised the Climate Emergency, and subsequently revised our mission statement to address this, and also covered the various efforts we have taken to address climate action. Finally, I briefed the delegates on how through our programmes and structure we have covered goal No. 5 (Gender Equality), No.7 (Affordable & Clean Energy), No.9 (Industry Innovation & Infrastructure) and No.11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities). It was interesting to see what other chapters were also doing to address the UN SDG’s, and each exchange ideas we could all incorporate for our chapters.

In the afternoons, we broke away from the conference room and visited different areas representative of Shanghai’s extraordinary development. We started with tours of the new art museums in the West Bund Arts District by talented Chinese firms Atelier Deshaus and OPEN Architecture, finishing along the expansive Riverwalk. 

In Pudong, we visited projects by KRIS YAO | ARTECH and Kengo Kuma Associates, as well as the famous super high rise towers of Lujiazui by SOM, KPF, and Gensler.

On the third afternoon we visited the historic residential streets of the Jingan District’s Former French Concession. I spent my last day back in the historic Jingang and Chenghuang Temple area, immersing myself in old Shanghai, and admiring how the old and new Shanghai blended together, with new developments being added to the ever growing skyline.

I was fascinated by all the growth and technological advancement in this vast financial hub of China. We were warmly received and taken care of, and all the talks & tours organised were very informative and exciting. I was able to meet and network with fellow architects and other professionals in attendance, who had come from all corners of the globe. The numbers in attendance was very impressive, and this conference has left a positive lasting impression on me. I am honoured to have represented the chapter, and express my gratitude and congratulations to the AIA IR & AIA Shanghai for hosting such a successful conference. We look forward to welcoming the AIA IR to London in 2021!

Written by: Chris Musangi AIA