Qld Trade Mission to China
Posted on the 28th 2011f June, 2011
We are just back from China today where we accompanied several other architectural firms as part of the HEAT initiative developed by the QLD Government Department of Employment Economics and Innovation.
Oldest Catholic Church in Shanghai
Four days of intensive tours and meetings in Shanghai and Nanjing has left us feeling excited and energized by the opportunities that China has for Queensland architects.
View from Bund
Of particular interest was the workshop with Professor Ruan Yisan from Tongji University where we heard about Adaptive Reuse of buildings. Robert Riddel (Riddel Architects) and Ian Mitchell (Conrad Gargett Architects) jointly presented their own Adaptive Reuse projects in Brisbane, and Professor Zhou Yian spoke about the huge effort required in China to stem the demolition of valuable heritage properties that tend to be bulldozed in the quest for fast redevelopment.
Detail of church
We were delighted to see a huge exhibition of beautiful posters in the Shanghai Airport departure lounges of the architectural projects, which aim to educate the public about the importance of architecture and the valuable history our architecture displays. What a great educational venue the airport is.
Heat Team in front of Expo China Pavillion
We presented some of our projects and of particular interest was the Aged Care work. China, with their one child policy, will end up with one (child) supporting two parents, and four grandparents.
Ballroom dancing in the park on Sunday morning - Roly gives it a go!
We are keen to share our Aged Care building experience with China, as it will be a necessity in the near future. While the concept of high rise aged care is only in its infancy in Australia, there is no other option in China. As their cities are full of a staggering number of high rise appartments, it makes sense that some of these will need to be adapted to suit its aged population.