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Gizmodo said that this new Apple Store, which incorporates certain elements of traditional Chinese architectural style, will be opening in Shanghai. However, most of the reports in the Chinese media are saying this is Beijing's second official Apple Store. It seems that the architect is American Benjamin Wood (the man behind the various 'tiandi' projects around China and who lives here in Shanghai). An Apple store—is it really necessary? There are plenty of places to buy Macs here and there are official repair stores that have genius bars. On the other hand, there's a certain convenience for the consumer to have a one-stop shop. Plus, you can always exchange knowing winks with other fanbois and grlz as you congratulate yourselves for choosing the world's most advanced operating system for your computing needs. We've always wanted to get a job at the Apple Store—the Beijing store offers classes and demonstrations of Apple software and systems, just like in the rest of the world.
Whose Apple Store is this?
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Pyjamas people are disappearing in Shanghai!
but I found this very cool book of Shanghai people in
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ben wood- of wood and zapata- and xintiandi disrepute? bleuh, what a terrible choice for an otherwise cool company(apple.)
this might be an issue of simply wanting the location. but to further an architect who is proud about hastening the destruction of li-long fabric and its replacement with theme-park malls is sad. this guy rides his bike with sidecar through li-longs voyeuristically but boasts about roofs taken off xintiandi houses to rush residents' eviction.
alas, he's just a tool (in multiple senses of the word) but appears to be an intellectually limited and limiting one.
Isn't Xintiandi a huge success by any measure? Sounds like sour grapes...
By any measure? No. If your measure is historic preservation, then it would have to be considered a huge failure.
In terms of developments that you see in Shanghai and China, I think Xintiandi has done fairly well at preserving the original characteristics. It's certainly preferable to tearing down whole residential blocks of the city for something that looks like the inside of a bathroom and has no traditional elements.
Judging by local standards, I think it's not bad. Maybe I'm just trying to consider it through a Chinese perspective, like painting brick lines on brick.
Your measuring bar is very low. Tearing something down and building a replica is not historic preservation. I agree Xintiandi is much more attractive than most developments, but many people still label it a work of renovation and restoration. Simply not true. They tore down a real neighborhood and built a fake one. And that's fine, really. It happens everywhere in the world. I was just being nitpicky about your initial statement. You could say Xintiandi is a success in many ways, just not all ways.