We are proud to announce the designation of the “Berlin in China Ambassadors” for the Cheng-Yu area, Choco Heng Zhang and Alexander Glaser. Cheng-Yu is a mega-city cluster created by the Chinese national government which includes two of the most economically active cities in western China – Chengdu and Chongqing.
As architects, Choco and Alexander are used to draw inspiration from different regions, different nationalities, and backgrounds. Already having accumulated extensive experiences in their profession, among others in projects for BMW, Louis Vuitton, Telekom, and the Biennale as well as with urban planning and residential property projects in Germany and China, both, Choco and Alex, identified Berlin with its diversity and internationality as the ideal place to establish their own company, prespace Architekten, located in Berlin Mitte, close to Prenzlauer Berg, Mauerpark and Museum Island.
After ten years in Berlin, Choco and Alex moved to China in 2018 and opened an office in the Cheng-Yu area, in Choco’s hometown Chengdu, a city which is very similar to Berlin, according to Choco and Alex, when it comes to openness and the welcoming attitude of its people. Both are cities, in which you can experience history, present and future in its built and unbuilt diversity, says Alex.
Shaping diverse urban structures into sustainable environments requires novel concepts and designs, including low-carbon buildings, functional change and reuse of existing buildings, intelligent transport and energy networks as well as holistic approaches such as the sponge city concept. With prespace Architekten, Choco and Alex realized numerous projects in the field of architecture and design and contributed to urban renewal both in China and in Germany.
The Chengdu-Chongqing city cluster is set to spearhead the industrialization, urbanization, and opening-up of west China while building an appealing living environment with sustainable development. We are very happy that our new Ambassadors can connect us and companies from Berlin directly with crucial resources in that area. With their longstanding Sino-German professional background, Choco and Alex can build a lot of bridges between Berlin and China and help us to introduce innovative green building and urban planning concepts from Berlin to China and vice versa.
We sincerely congratulate Choco and Alex for being assigned Berlin in China Ambassadors and look forward to jointly establishing many new points of contact and to strengthening the ties between Berlin and China.
Introduction – Berlin in China Ambassadors, Choco Heng Zhang and Alexander Glaser
