schneider+schumacher at the BAU Congress in China
Two of schneider+schumacher’s managing directors – Nan Wang (Tianjin) und Joachim Wendt (Frankfurt/Tianjin) – talked about day-to-day cultural differences in architecture at the BAU Congress China in Beijing on 5 July. First they answered a couple of questions:
What is special about the Chinese market?
Nan Wang: Here one is often aware of the influence of the state. The government’s current anti-corruption campaign means that they have become very cautious when it comes to making decisions, so nowadays there is a less assertive approach to many projects. The time factor is one of the key differences compared to Germany. Here in China we’re given much less time. Recently, for example, we were faced with having to simultaneously produce three first-round competition entries inside a week. Even so, each of these managed to get through to the second round selection process.
Joachim Wendt: The same is true for projects. We’ve yet to encounter anything like the detailed time schedules we typically have in Germany. Lots of things here happen on demand, and often from one day to the next. Sometimes we feel this isn’t quite right; after all we’ve learnt that – in the long run – good, sound planning pays off. I also think that the Chinese market is somewhat less transparent. For participation in competitions and other processes personal contacts play a large role, because the official invitation to tender often arrives very late. But as architects we tend to rely on our design ability and, in particular, on detailing. So far, this approach appears to be working well.
What are you working on at the moment?
Nan Wang: Just now we’re busy with the three competitions I just mentioned – in Hangzhou and Shenzhen. Apart from those, we’re on site with