On July 29, CRTKL Shanghai celebrated the 75th anniversary of CallisonRTKL and the 20th anniversary of its Shanghai Office. Greg Yager, the founder of CRTKL Shanghai office and principal, sent his blessings to colleagues in the Asia Pacific region on video chat during the celebrations. Principals Xiaoguang Liu and May Wei delivered opening speeches — sharing the development stories of CallisonRTKL since 1946 and encouraging everyone to think about the value of legacy and innovation.
Principal Lily Wei shared the planning practice of CallisonRTKL — further underlining the importance of legacy and innovation in the future development of the company. She said that planning and design are in the DNA of CallisonRTKL. Then, taking the example of the Baltimore Inner Harbor remodeling by CallisonRTKL in 1970s, she demonstrated how the planners spent 30 years transforming a dilapidated industrial port into a world-class tourist destination by incrementally bringing in new functions in phases. The case has become a textbook example of urban renewal in the United States.
She also presented the case analysis of two planning projects, “Zaibei Syzhou Creek” and “Hongqiao CBD,” completed in Shanghai in 2010. She elaborated on the design ideas of adapting strategies to local conditions. She shared the core design principles from the planning team of CRTKL: to provide a well-defined and feasible development framework for cities, flexible enough to accommodate future needs, and to create venues with a human-oriented philosophy.
Later, principal Tony Chen and Jessica Shen presided over a roundtable entitled “Urban Complex Development History and Iterative Innovation in CallisonRTKL” to review and discuss the projects executed by CRTKL in the Chinese mainland since the early 1990s.
Using the first project completed by the company after entering China, Beijing New Dong’an Market, as a clue, Xiaoguang took the attendees on a tour of the commercial and cultural public buildings undertaken by the company in the Chinese mainland in the early days. After that, the principals of CRTKL showcased the classic works completed in 2010-2020.
Then, we looked into the future and shared the upcoming projects, including: VIVO Global AI R&D Center, Zhengzhou MixC Phase II, Nanjing Jianye Injoy City, Suning Xianlin Project, Shanghai Lujiazui Zhangjiang Mixed-Use, Shanghai China Overseas Center, Sunhe Shiliu, Ganzhou Gate, Beijing Dongzhimen Mixed-use, CIMC Qianhai Schematic Design.
Michael Tye, associate principal, shared the relevant cases of retail design in the Asia Pacific region. Michael also reflected on retail facility design in the future—noting that the spatial experience in real life was more important than the implantation of digital virtual technologies.
Finally, Zichen Liu and Rickie Zhang, representatives of a new generation of CRTKL designers, shared with the audience their design perspective: “daring to play and express themselves.” They discussed how to push the boundaries, express their values bravely, create their works and voice their opinions in their love and observation of life. They said that the new generation of designers loves to pursue both knowledge and entertainment. While emphasizing the entertainment, they should pay more attention to making innovations in their specific fields using their profound expertise.