Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

 
The Opposites Hotel

All good things come to an end, and after 10 days in China we returned home. On our final day we had a few free hours before heading to the airport. We went our separate ways, some to do a little shopping, some to discover another unique neighborhood, some to see a local silk factory and for me – to visit the local HOK office. I had Googled the office location and thought I knew where I was heading. After an hour of walking in circles around government buildings guarded by soldiers …

Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

December 9th – The Great Wall

Group at the Olympic site

My cheeks are rosy and my knees are sore. On our final day here before returning home we spent more time outside than at any time in the past nine days. We went out to the Great Wall where the air is fresher, although blue sky is a rare sight. We took the opportunity to stop at the Olympic Centre on the way; the scale of the square linking the Birds Nest and Water Cube rivals that of Tiananmen Square. The air has …

Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

December 8th –  Tsinghua University

Performer

We were at our second conference today out at Tsinghua University, one of the top schools in China. The Forum today was focused on corporate office space and in addition to us Canadian speakers, there were two from China who have worked in Corporate Real Estate groups for large corporations in this region. There were a mix of Asians and Caucasians at the conference, but there were a greater number of people that spoke English than in Shanghai. It was helpful at the break to have more people who spoke English that …

Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

December 7th –  Embassy Visit & Forbidden City

The Opera House

Today we went to the embassy and met with the trade commissioners, Marc and Shirley, who gave us a presentation on business in China. They have never had an interior design delegation before, so they tailored it more to the construction industry and architecture consulting services. It’s only been about 10 years since you can buy property in China (not including the land which the state owns and leases to you), so people are not that familiar with ownership. Quality is an issue …

Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

December 6th – First Day in Beijing

Deborah, Theo + Ted

On our last day in Shanghai it was the clearest day we’ve seen; the heavy pollution seemed to be gone and there was little traffic as we left for the airport early in the morning. It was a sunny end to our four days in this vibrant city. Beijing is completely different with its wide boulevards and shorter buildings with very large footprints. It is like Washington and Shanghai is like New York.  Luckily we’ve had wonderful service at the Grand Hyatt hotels in …

Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

December 5th – Final Day in Shanghai

Today we went from pristine public squares near the Science museum to jam packed streets full of overloaded bicycles and people. This contrast is what makes China such a unique place; however, everything is growing at such a rate that the local culture may be left behind or supplanted with western culture. We saw photos of Shanghai from only 15 years ago when the broadcast tower was only half constructed and all of Pudong was flat. Since then it is packed with new high-rise buildings, some of the …

Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

December 4th – Design Forum and PM Dinner in Shanghai

Today was packed from one end to the other. I had never practised the PowerPoint I prepared 2 months ago so I stayed up until after 1:00 AM last night figuring out what I was going to say. I was the first of seven speakers and gave a retrospective of Corporate Office Interior Design in North America over the past 50 years, along with a few thoughts of where we might be heading. The audience was designers from Asia as well as interior design …

Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

Old slaughterhouse

December 3rd –  Introduction to Shanghai

Today was a day of contrasts. We saw a renovated cattle slaughterhouse originally built in 1933 which we could easily picture as the type of space we want to find for ARIDO’s new office. The complex has not been successful with most Chinese because of the connection to death, but there were some creative firms in the building, so maybe that will change. A glass floor has been inserted between two levels and a light and sound show for an event was being tested while we were strolling around. We …

Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

December 2nd - Flight and Arrival in Shanghai

I’d forgotten how long a plane ride to the other side of the planet is, but we were lucky that it was non-stop, only 14 ½ hours. My first thought when I was on the plane and most of the group was in the same area of the cabin was how decimated the Interior Design profession in Ontario would be if the plane went down. We would lose the President, President Elect, Executive Director, a previous President, a Board Member/NCIDQ delegate, two interior design professors and several …

Posting on behalf of Deborah Rutherford, Operations Leader for HOK in Canada’s Corporate Accounts Practice and President of ARIDO.

November 27th – Kick-off Dinner

I’m heading to China next week for the trip of a lifetime. That sounds trite, but in this case it’s true. I’m the president of ARIDO (the Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario) and I’m going to Shanghai and Beijing as part of a trade mission. Twelve of us are going, along with a few more partners/spouses. We connected with ICIAD (International Council of Interior Architects and Designers) a few years ago and they invited us to come and develop connections with local Chinese designers and businesses.

Many of us are …