In 2015, the Next City Living Lab will make its debut at Beijing Design Week, in The Nurturing House. From 23 September to 30 October, The Nurturing...
Introduction
Before 1979's economic reforms, all architectural design activities were monopolized and managed by state-owned Local Design Institutes (LDI's). In socialist China and its planned economy, design, planning and construction, as a service, needed to be delivered to the masses and executed by state-owned practices. With the economic reforms of 80s, and consequent construction boom seen from the 90s onwards, this system was transformed drastically: LDI's were pushed to reform and private investment was allowed to enter the market.
Now, although LDI is still dominating the architecture market, there is a growing amount of private firms, mostly established by architects that returned after studying/working abroad (operating mainly from Beijing and Shanghai). Small-scale studios (maximum 30 person-staff) are mainly working in the cultural sector, as they push the boundaries of architecture design. They work on smaller commissions, knowing that more than 90% of the architectural design in Chinese cities (large-scale housing, public infrastructure, commercial/service buildings) is taken over by construction companies and real-estate developers dealing directly with bigger LDI’s. This new generation often acts as mediators, international market principles with Chinese conditions, making Sino-foreign partnerships easier.