Ben Wood：在新天地中创造意外惊喜
上海新天地
令你快乐的东西往往是一个意外惊喜，在拥有丰富体验的环境中，更容易发现这种快乐
Ben wood: 我在中国的第一个项目是新天地。1998年，香港的一个开发商(编者注：香港瑞安地产集团)邀我前往上海，察看现今新天地的场地。这是我第一次到上海，也是第一次到中国。
当我开始着手这个项目时，当地政府官员认为，我们会拆除大部分现存建筑。但是，当认识到我们想要保留那些较老建筑物，而只移除那些较新的建国后建筑时，他们非常惊讶。在那时，法租界的石库门居住区不被认为具有重要的历史价值，只有中共二大会址才被认为是一个地标。一个地标之所以是地标，不是因为其建筑风格，而是因为一次历史事件。
在设计新天地的过程中，我想我的客户及当地规划局都对石库门的文化重要性有了正面评价。这种具有象征意义的建筑，是中国文化与西方建筑相熔合的体现。
现在，来访新天地的人能体验到一种现代中国的生活方式，这种现代生活方式同时又被过去时代造出的东西所环绕，人的心与眼也由此可在上海的20世纪早期和21世纪早期之间来回穿越，这是一种非常有力的结合。
在以高层建筑、裙房商场、钢筋水泥玻璃建筑为主的大量项目中，宜人尺度几乎总是被妥协。宜人尺度遭妥协或放弃之后，是被汽车驱动的城市规划如浦东。但新天地说明了保留街坊的宜人尺度，有其价值。
英语中有个单词“serendipity”，意思是，意外发现令人快乐的东西。英语是单词中有这种意思的唯一语言。那些随处可见的、主宰了现代中国城市景观的幕墙建筑，无任何诗意可言；也很难想象，如何能在现代shopping mall (大型购物中心) 里发现快乐踪迹。快乐不是一个日用品或一个奢侈品品牌。你在新天地获得快乐，是因为你知道你是崭新中国的一部分；是因为通过你作的选择，你明确了你的身份：跟谁在一起，穿什么衣服，到哪个地方晚餐，点什么酒，以及那些能看到你、你也正看着他们、围绕着你的人。
Why xintiandi would make so great success?
My first project in China was Xintiandi. I was asked by a Hong Kong developer to visit Shanghai in 1998 and to see the site of what is now Xintiandi. It was my first trip to China and to Shanghai.
When I began work on this project the local government officials assumed that we would demolish all but a few of the existing buildings. They were very surprised to learn that we wanted to keep all the older structures, removing only the more recent post PRC buildings. At that time the Shukumen townhouses of the French Concession were not considered historically important. Only the site of the Second Congress was considered a landmark. Not a landmark because of the architecture but because of an historical event.
Over the course of designing Xintiandi I think both my client and the local planning authorities gained an appreciation for the cultural importance of the Shukumen. This building typology represents a fusion of Chinese culture and Western architecture.
Today visitors to Xintiandi can experiencea modern Chinese lifestyle surrounded by artifacts a bygone era. This is a powerful combination when the mind’s eye can span the time between Shanghai of the early 20th Century with Shanghaiof the early 21st Century.
Xintiandi demonstrated the value of preserving the human scale of the neighborhoods that predate the automobile driven urban plans of a place like Pudong. Human scale is almost always compromised in the kind of mega projects that are dominated by high-rise buildings, podium shopping malls, and grey andglass architecture.
In the English language we have a word“serendipity”. Serendipity means accidently finding something that makes you happy. English is the only language that has a word with this meaning. It is hard to imagine finding happiness in a modern shopping mall. There is nothing romantic about the architecture of the ubiquitous glass curtain wall that dominates the urbanlandscape of modern China. Happiness is not a commodity or a luxury brand. Happiness in a place like Xintiandi , knowing that you are part of a new China and you are defining your identity by the choices you make; who you are with, what you are wearing, the place you choose to have dinner, the wine you order, and the people all around you who can watch you watching them.
