Humanitarian Acts
Property Report|October-November 2018

Studio Shanghai’s visionary founder Benjamin Wood eschews complicated flashiness to create urban environments that elevate the lives of inhabitants

Diana Hubbell
Humanitarian Acts

Benjamin Wood was sitting at his desk in his Boston office when he got the call. Vincent Lo, a Hong Kong-based developer, was seeking a visionary architect for an unusual project in Shanghai. Lo had admired Wood’s work on Lincoln Road, a highend stretch of commercial development that had transformed a neighbourhood in Miami. Details of the project were vague, but the offer was too intriguing to turn down.

“He just said, ‘I have something in Shanghai I want you to look at,’” Wood remembers. “I had never been to China, but he was generous enough to buy me a first-class ticket, so I took him up on it.”

After a brief discussion with Lo in Hong Kong, Wood flew to the mainland for what turned out to be a fateful visit. It was 1998, a year after the handover in Hong Kong and right on the cusp of China’s meteoric building boom. The project in question turned out to be Xintiandi, the upscale, mixed-use development centred around a cluster of historic buildings that is now widely considered one of the country’s greatest urban planning success stories.

In an article for The New Yorker, architecture critic Paul Goldberger dubbed it “the most provocative new architectural project in Shanghai”—an especially bold proclamation in an era when Pudong’s skyline was rapidly approaching Blade Runner proportions.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October-November 2018 من Property Report.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة October-November 2018 من Property Report.

ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.

المزيد من القصص من PROPERTY REPORT مشاهدة الكل
Singapore Starts To Swings
Property Report

Singapore Starts To Swings

Generous stimulus has saved the Lion City’s economy from disaster, and a percolating post-pandemic boom looks set to send the residential sector into overdrive

time-read
8 mins  |
August - September 2021
Natural Highs
Property Report

Natural Highs

With people seeking safe ways of re-engaging with the outside world, the pandemic has steered investment in key ski markets back on-piste

time-read
5 mins  |
August - September 2021
It's In Hua Hin
Property Report

It's In Hua Hin

A long-time favorite of Thai royalty and weekenders travelling from Bangkok, the famous beach town is adding some alluring new strings to its bow

time-read
3 mins  |
August - September 2021
Blues In The Blood
Property Report

Blues In The Blood

As China’s cities explode, its built heritage is often neglected. Hangzhou-based Bluetown Architects aims to redress that balance through its striking but functional work

time-read
6 mins  |
August - September 2021
Little Joy Soldiers
Property Report

Little Joy Soldiers

Real estate sales offices are reopening in Yangon, but banking problems, low confidence and oversupply mean a bleak outlook as the army seeks to entrench rule

time-read
4 mins  |
August - September 2021
Youth Movement
Property Report

Youth Movement

Young members of a storied family shift property development in Cebu forward with a smart, green commercial tower, rising tall above an heirloom estate

time-read
7 mins  |
August - September 2021
Gift From Above
Property Report

Gift From Above

Source Global is tapping into a renewable source— the sky—to supply drinking water to residential communities and commercial properties in Asia

time-read
6 mins  |
August - September 2021
Proptech Is Enhancing Efficiency And Human Experience
Property Report

Proptech Is Enhancing Efficiency And Human Experience

The pandemic has forced the real estate industry into a more meaningful embrace with technology after years of flirting with innovation

time-read
8 mins  |
August - September 2021
Legacy Of Handy, Individualistic Inventions
Property Report

Legacy Of Handy, Individualistic Inventions

The global crisis has caused unprecedented pain, but its extraordinary nature has seen it spawn a legacy of handy, individualistic inventions

time-read
1 min  |
August - September 2021
Wave Of Mutilation
Property Report

Wave Of Mutilation

Lockdown disruption, evolving working conditions and an exodus by offshore gaming operators have sent the vital office space sector in the Philippines into freefall

time-read
7 mins  |
August - September 2021