| "They say that in China everyday
you wake up richer than the previous day," says Trevor Hill, executive
director of Audi in China. This cannot be more evident than in a city
like Shanghai, the glamour city of China and the face of the country,
where it is all about new money. With its high skyline, grand architecture
and endless designer stores, it could perhaps represent a glimpse into
the future of the country.
Young onlookers at the Shanghai
Motor Show |
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The Mitsubishi banner at
the Shanghai Show. "The letterings are all different
font weights. It looks like a cartoon. It's phenomenal,"
Bangle |
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Obscene money is being poured into areas like Pudong, the financial
centre of Shanghai, as well as home to some of its more glorious architecturally
designed hotels, bars and restaurants. The city resembles a construction
site, with crazy building -- the taller the better -- springing up much
in the manner of Dubai. Old concrete blocks are bulldozers to be replaced
within days, it seems, with lavish architectural monuments by both home-grown
talent as well as famous global architecture firms. Shanghai is all about
boasting wealth.
It takes a second glance to notice that there is an old Shanghai. The
ancient city feels hidden away in the shadows of high rise masses. Although
China is one of the oldest civilisations, it doesn't appear to be taking
much pride in its past. I caught up with the legendary BMW designer, Chris
Bangle, at the Shanghai Auto Show who has a thought or two on the subject.
"I don't pretend to be an expert, but I do try to look at it from
their viewpoint," he starts. "Is it about ignoring the past,
or do they incorporate the past in ways that we just don't see?"
Speaking to a group of Chinese designers on the GM stand his attention
was drawn to a graphic that is being used quite frequently on the roofline.
They explained that this represents a shape that is a symbol of happiness
in Chinese. "Maybe there is a metaphorical relationship between calligraphy
and the car shape. Calligraphy itself is a metaphor for real things,"
he says.
If the Chinese cared solely about becoming a new America, then this kind
of rational would not be so important to them. When these sorts of things
pop out of the woodwork it makes you wonder whether they really have paved
over the past.
So what do the people of this great city and this evolving country like
to drive? Hill says that the Chinese generally go for darker colours for
both the interior and the exterior. It was, however, a little misleading
at the Shanghai Show where the bulk of cars were presented in either garish
colours, or in the case of the more premium brands, in various shades
of beige. This it turns out to be a way of introducing an alternative
colour pallet to the Chinese psyche. Taste is often dictated by word of
mouth or consumer history. Most Chinese are still on their first car purchase
so the latter does not apply to them, although the internet has already
had a huge impact on consumer taste and knowledge.
More outrageously, Audi presented the A8 in a daring gold, not something
that you would associate with the brand. "Our marketing job is to
differentiate the A8 from the A6 and say that the A8 is an executive car,
whereas the A6 should be driven by managers. So are you the president
or the manager," says Hill.
The German premium brand specifically markets the growing young entrepreneur
middle classes. In the south, they have made their money mainly from high
tech industries and around the Beijing area they are often property developers,
many of whom are women. There is simply a lot of new money in China.
The world's visual vocabulary is as interesting as its various languages,
yet we seldom take this as a way of studying cultures. "The responsibility
that the design world has is to keep language alive," says Bangle.
For instance although geometry is such a strong part of Chinese culture,
they tend to find cold geometric shapes boring. What does this say about
China?
On a different note, Bangle thinks that art and design history haven't
perhaps had the same impact in China as they have had in Europe and America.
Beijing, for instance, is a grey city because apparently, according to
him, the royal family didn't allow colour to be used by the masses. "How
deep is art history in a country which disenfranchises the main bulk of
your population from using colour?"
Walking around Shanghai, we came across an ancient temple in the old city
where a few locals were performing a ritual. As our guide began to explain
the prayer, a younger man started firing-off abuse at him. He had apparently
told our guide to only show new China, why talk about the old days, he
had screamed. Bangle thinks that perhaps China's macho façade is
the need to exhibit a side that is all about looking forward. "People
tell me that the BMW brand is so strong here because it is linked to progress,"
he boasts.
Some Chinese cities may resemble the newly formed Golf states, but unlike
them, China posses a strong and vibrant history. Perhaps the Nuevo-riche
face is just that and underneath there are many layers that we in the
West have yet to understand. Hopefully they will manifest themselves into
a strong visual language that will be seen on future Chinese cars.
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