News & Events

School of Design @ WDCC 2022

The World Design Cities Conference (WDCC) 2022, hosted by the Shanghai municipality, was held in Shanghai on September 15^th to 18^th. With the theme of “Vision in Perspective”, the four-day conference reaffirming the city's design achievements while promoting the construction of a City of Design. The WDCC 2022 included conferences, shows, product releases and an exhibition.

​The International Architectural Design Summit of the World Design Cities Conference 2022 was held by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Arcplus Group PLC on September 16. More than twenty top experts and scholars from Shanghai International Architecture Design Think Tank, including RUAN Xing, Dean and Guangqi Chair Professor of Shanghai Jiao Tong School of Design, from the perspective of architectural design, offered advice and suggestions on Shanghai’s architectural design and urban development, in helping build Shanghai the world first-class “City of Design”. Architectural Design Shanghai Initiatives 2022 was officially released at the conference.

​CHENG Taining, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, CHANG Qing, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Chair Professor of Architectural History at New York University, and Zhang Junjie, Chief Architect of Archplus were invited to give keynote speeches. They shared their views and insights from the aspects of traditional Chinese architectural culture inheritance, architectural heritage, symbiosis between city and design, and urban renewal.

A symposium was organized and curated by Ruan Xing afterwards. The event was co-chaired by Wang Lin, Director and Professor of the International Research Center for Urban Renewal, Conservation and Innovation, Shanghai Jiao Tong School of Design, and Zhou Jingyu, Vice President of Archplus. International experts of the Shanghai Tink Tank, Simon Allford, RIBA President; Joan Busquets, Professor at Harvard School of Design, David Chipperfield, British Royal Academician and architect, and Sarah Whiting, Dean of the Harvard School of Design, were invited to share global concerns on architectural design. They discussed hot issues, multi-angle presentation of design to help urban construction and development, to promote a deeper global connection, and how to assist people to coexist in harmony and common prosperity.

​More than 50 forums and activities were held during the WDCC 2022, covering varied topics as well as innovations in industrial, architecture, fashion, digital and service design. It aimed to expand the city's influence in design concepts, and accelerate the transformation of Shanghai as part of the UN's "Creative City Network".