Architect: Shanghai is "the Greatest Place to Be on Earth"

Marketplace‘s David Gura filed a nice piece today on the success of American architects who are helping to paint the Shanghai skyline with bold and innovative designs. One of these architects is Dan Winey, regional managing principal for Gensler’s U.S. Northwest and Asia Pacific offices. Gensler’s firm is the one that designed the new Shanghai Tower, the tallest building in China and the second-tallest in the world. He calls Shanghai, “the greatest place on Earth,” and it may very well be if you’re an intrepid architect:

“At a time when critics lament the sameness of new architecture in the States, China offers opportunities to be bold, Winey says.”

Not every city in the United States is experiencing a real-estate boom. The city I live in — Washington, DC — is, and I can attest to Winey’s words. Our new buildings are boring. That’s partly because DC has some odd aesthetic regulations and partly because developers prefer boxy, unembellished buildings. This isn’t the case in cities like Shanghai, which invest in imaginative designs. The Shanghai Tower, for instance, features “a glass façade that hangs from cables and moves with the wind.” That’s the sort of wonder-soaked architectural element that keeps foreign architects flocking to Shanghai, Hong Kong, and other design-focused cities.

Check out the full piece linked below for more about why Shanghai attracts the architectural eye.