Source: CCTV.com

06-28-2007 17:44

A Chinese proverb says that an inch of time equals an inch of gold. Well in Hong Kong you could say an inch of land equals an inch of gold and one man seems to have the Midas touch.

Keith Griffiths has designed some of the most famous buildings in the city. He runs the fourth largest architectural firm in the world, and his headquarters are right here in Hong Kong.

Keith Griffiths' firm, Aedas, had just one office in 1990s. Since then, he's expanded his architectural empire to include offices in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. (natural sound) Nearly 600 of his employees work here in Hong Kong.

"And there's a whole team over there. And we have a landscape team and a middle east team over there. On this area on this floor we have my team which sits over there. All the directors sit out in the open plan," said Keith Griffiths.

"In '97 we had one office. Now we have six offices in Asia. So actually, if you like, the handover allowed Hong Kong to become an international city. It allowed Hong Kong to become a capital city, an Asian city in Asia, alongside Shanghai and Beijing. And as a result of that we could start to become international architects. Previously we were sort of hidebound by the sort of British mentality. But once '97 we could expand at will," said Keith Griffiths.

Aedas has an entire floor devoted to projects in Macau, and his architects are designing buildings in cities around the world.

"This structure's been worked out, and the client is actually looking for another site to put it on, " said Keith Griffiths,"Here we see for instance designs for China Walmart stores and Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley and Walmart work in conjunction together. And some really interesting forms. For a rollout of up to fifty to a hundred shopping centers across China."

Griffith's firms have designed shopping centers across China, including the Princes building in Hong Kong's Central.

"So the head, the Hong Kong logo, the square lights, different colors, the name of the streets, and the stone which comes out of Finland, so you get this branding. This next one here is Alexandra House, and this is the third one we did after Princes Building, and the namebrands by now," Keith Griffiths.

"And what we're dealing here with is an old building where people found it difficult to move around, so we softened everything. We cut a lot of diagonal lines. So we can see a footbridge over there, to a footbridge here, to a footbridge over there. Creating these vistas so people would know how to move around," said Keith Griffiths.

"We now enter the building from the other side. From the Lan Kwai Fang side. We have in Edinburgh tower 120 room, boutique hotel. A high end-six-star boutique hotel. We have spas, restaurants, Harvey Nichols department store. All the name brands. So this has now become a real lifestyle retail center," said Keith Griffiths.

Hong Kong's Central has many luxury stores. Ten years ago some people could shop here, now local residents, and an increasing number of tourists can afford these brands. The local economy has thrived in recent years, and some Hong Kong British, like Griffiths, have profited from their decision to stay after 1997.

But in our process of growth, as we grew from a hundred people to two hundred people in those years. We were starting to employ more and more American-born Chinese architects who were coming back to Hong Kong.

What I see now is that Hong Kong is becoming the center of this global empire of architectural offices that we've set up. Which is the 4th largest firm in the world. Next year we'll be the 3rd largest, the year after the second, we'll be down to the largest in the world within five years. That's the way the company is growing. We have 1800 people now. I reckon we'll have 3 or 4,000 people. And we will completely change the landscape of architectural services worldwide.

In Chinese Hong Kong means fragrant harbor. Ten years after the handover this city is even more prosperous than it was before. As globalization continues, Hong Kong is opening its doors even wider to foreign countries. Now a city of China, Hong Kong is still a city of th e world.

 

Editor:Chen Ge