Sight and Sound Around Town, Part II

A Lanky Building

If I were not to take a rest closer to the building after some long hours of enjoying scenery and walking on the street, and a very astonishing discovery, this building is a sure attention getter. A slim block narrowly set on site, the designer had taken on some challenging mission to maximize the building design. In fact, it is precisely this difficult situation that fancy mind blasting would be let loose and resulting in creative design. Since its larger planar facade is fronting the street, most passers-by would have somehow easily missed out the rising and towering, lanky but quite an elegant architectural beauty.

LV

Like any other trailing name brands, Louis Vuitton has also staked its market niche in China. Many international brands have elected to launch their individual brands or flagship stores here in Shanghai. Building designed by either KPF or HOK (need to check accuracy for fact) of USA, the Plaza 66 on Nanjing Road is the haven and heaven for many leading brands. Of course, few could actually afford the brands, hence the ubiquitous less than poor quality with misspellings imitations seen all over the streets of Shanghai. Plaza 66's interior is definitely of international caliber; each of the stores is a sure bet of international design standards. Nice storefronts, nice logo design, nice brand names and, simply very nice design. Of course, checking out those whopping price tags causes eyes popping and heart pounding at the same time. Plaza 66 is similar to the Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. I am also priced out.

Electrical Panels
These neatly lined electrical panels revealed the number of family housed within the building. Multi-family housing is a very common sight in Shanghai. The interior spaces of these large buildings, to be exact, are divided or sub-divided, further dissected and separated (to use a few accurate verbs to describe historical make shifts). The building serves several families or extended families, related or not. The staircase could be so steep; a doorway may be partitioned into two halves, serving as two entries for two families; and another mezzanine floor added to the already small interior. Out of the picture, a panel was found dislodged, apparently due to bills not paid for a long time.


Jeremy
October 25th 2006