Interview With The Interesting Wizard Of Klevis Koco: Mixed Use Space

Klevis Koco, a Albania born architect, at first glance, has nothing to do with those young foreigners who are active in Shanghai: he is fashionable, friendly, enjoying Shanghai life and bringing more internationalized thinking to the city. In fact, this is a very weighty young man, and China has a deeper edge: Koco can speak five languages, including fluent Chinese. This is because in 1997, he arrived in China through an UNESCO sponsored sponsorship opportunity. After that, he came to China again in 2003 and chose to attend Tongji University in Shanghai. After graduation, he stayed in China and participated in designing famous projects such as Alibaba Xixi park. Today, the young Klevis Koco has rich experience in cooperation with the Chinese government and the private sector, and has recently been promoted to the director of HASSELL, an internationally renowned architectural design company. He led the team, completed the transformation of Shanghai Vanke Sanlin shopping center, Shanghai Nanfeng building project and Hongkou Binjiang beaches, Binjiang public space and other projects.

Klevis Koco. Data map

2019 is a bumper harvest year for HASSELL and Klevis Koco. They designed the "panda capital" project in Chengdu. They won two awards in Singapore's Landscape Architecture Award and planning awards, including the 2019 Singapore Landscape Architecture Awards Outstanding analysis award and the Planning Award, and the 2019 Singapore Planning Association (SIP) best planning Award Bronze Award.

Although there are many design projects, what Klevis Koco is best at and interested in is the transformation and transformation of mixed-use space. This is also an important topic in China's architectural design industry. At present, the state strongly encourages the consumption mode of offline offline Retail, which is closely related to the urban space, offline experience and the quality of urban life. How to create the "third" space for the masses in the commercial space and create diversified experience and cultural value for daily life is the key to the Klevis design strategy.

Recently, Klevis Koco interviewed the reporter in the studio of Xujiahui, Shanghai, and shared how to create a mixed use space in the commercial space so as to enhance the diverse experience of urban life and meet the deep needs of people. He also expressed his views on what new and better space models to be developed in urban life.

Twenty-first Century: take the ongoing projects in China as an example to illustrate your core concept in planning and design. Your core values?

Klevis Koco: the latest project in Jingan District, Shanghai is still in the confidentiality agreement, too many details can not be disclosed. Generally speaking, the construction of mixed use space emphasizes internationalization and localization, showing diversity and emphasizing relevance with the surrounding area. Among them, the needs of people are more abundant, rather than traditional single experience. Our core values are "creating places that are popular with people". This ultimate goal is not in conflict with the developers' goals. It emphasizes the creation of human experience and the users' attention.

Twenty-first Century: what is the best example of overseas mixed-use space? What is your practical experience?

Klevis Koco: we have two projects in Australia that are very representative. One is the Brookfield Place urban complex project in Perth. We are involved in three parts: landscape, architecture and interior. Office space during the day will attract people to stay and become "destination" at night. We emphasize the moving line in design and create "interesting space" to form a purposeful connection between the new and the old. Another case is the development project of the Perth and the Westin hotel complex, which has won a prize related to the reconstruction of cultural history.

Three Lin impression city. The picture is provided by Hassell.

Twenty-first Century: how can you make community communication more natural and make space more successful when designing mixed use space?

Klevis Koco: take the transformation of Shanghai Sanlin impressions city as an example, we have already completed the project, and no one has ever gone to the old shopping center. It is mainly commercial in function, but the purpose is to attract people first, and to have a good experience, consumption is just a result. We did a thorough investigation and understanding of the surrounding residents in advance, so that we could provide different fields for different groups of people. Before it was a small building, it was endowed with a sinking square. The square was replaced with sculptures of art, providing an updated place for activities and performances.

Nowadays, the first tier cities have gone through the era of consumption fever, and what people want is experience. In the past, some mature techniques, moving lines and business strategies are changing. There were not many cultural and sports facilities in the previous complex design. Traditionally, offices, businesses and hotels were mainly combined with small libraries. People do not come for consumption, but they may be more willing to spend. Therefore, museums, culture and sports facilities are increasingly becoming the core of mixed use space. In this regard, the acceptability of developers and partners is slowly improving.

Hassell new project in Jingan, Shanghai. The picture is provided by Hassell.

Twenty-first Century: take the Shanghai project as an example, what are your designs specifically designed for the local residents' unique lifestyle and experience preferences?

Klevis Koco: take our current Jingan project as an example, the facade uses modern material and a historical material to reflect the practice of using red brick. In the memory of the old Jingan people, this place used to be a vegetable market, a place where people are densely populated, where the rhythm slows down. We keep this characteristic in the street and give people some reasons to stay in the design.

Twenty-first Century: have you studied the new aspect of the mixed use space yet to be explored? And what fresh experiences are likely to bring for future crowds?

Klevis Koco: a very interesting point is that with the help of 3D technology, the manufacturing links in the complex do not need to go to factories, but in some small spaces, 3D produces exquisite works. People entering this space can buy products and customize them. This kind of space that can be visited, accessible and marketable is open from the beginning of manufacturing process. It belongs to a new way of consumption and shopping. Another trend is the integration of nature into the city centre. Especially in Shanghai, some ornamental green spaces have been transformed into available ones, and the boundaries between interior and exterior are beginning to blur. The office entrance of our new project in Jingan is no longer the common open square, but a tree array that can shade and walk better. The third trend is to design a series of experience, connecting urban neighbouring areas, such as business district, residential area, Museum... It provides a series of wonderful experiences on a larger scale.

Twenty-first Century: in recent years, Shanghai has done a large-scale green belt transformation along the Huangpu River and the green road is connected. And what do you think can be more optimized?

Klevis Koco: as a matter of fact, our company has participated in the bidding for the open space design of the east coast of Pujiang. The plan is to create a city forest built on the riverside, consisting of 2 million trees representing 2 million children in Shanghai. The scheme has entered the final list. What we really participated in the design and implementation of is the public space penetration project in Binjiang, Hongkou. We plan to set up three active routes to form a coherent Binjiang space and clear the area previously cut off so that people can use the 2.5 km long coastline. We use garden green spaces to sew and connect different characteristics areas, and set up abundant site functions in the waterfront area. This design brought Hongkou back to its urban role 100 years ago, reshaping its unique public green space identity in history. Generally speaking, the experience of walking through the Greenway in Binjiang, Shanghai is very good. We finally judge whether a project is successful or depends on how people use it, and whether it likes to use it. As for the areas that can be more optimized, I think the channels on both sides of Pujiang can be further strengthened. This is also a common problem in riparian cities. How to achieve a little more effect on design techniques? Water traffic is needed to enhance. This way of subway is more practical, and it is necessary to finish a pleasant walk through a better design without interrupting the river.