SOCIAL PERSPECTIVE 人群视角
What does community really mean? We asked a number of creatives and entrepreneurs to give us their personal take.
社群的定义是什么？我们邀请了一些创意先锋及创业者与我们分享他们的见解。
“people live in cities and cities live in people.
人选择城市，城市塑造着人。”
Ben Wood
BEN WOOD
Ben Wood is the founder of Studio Shanghai Architects, who were responsible for Shanghai XINTIANDI's design. Their concept for the project was simple: make places, mainly outdoors, for people to meet.
When I first came to Shanghai in 1998 I had no idea what to expect, I just knew that something was about to happen in terms of urban regeneration. Looking back, what I have witnessed in my 20 years here is the meteoric rise of the middle class, the phenomena of women desiring designer handbags, of the iPhone becoming a fashion accessory. For me, all of this was an education in how popular culture is created by the choices people make: who they're with, what they're wearing, what they're eating.
I think XINTIANDI is important because it put Shanghai at least 10 years ahead of any other city in the country. I have multiple other projects in other cities and districts in China and they're all trying to become like Shanghai, and they always point to XINTIANDI as the project that made it the city the place where everybody wanted to live. I don't think people realise how important XINTIANDI is as a cultural benchmark. And – financially speaking – successful beyond anyone's dreams.
There's a phrase that goes along the lines of: people live in cities and cities live in people. Where you live is a huge choice you make and it will absolutely define you. Starting with the city you choose, down to where in that city you choose to be. If you make the right choices your life becomes so much richer. It comes down to finding places in that neighbourhood where you can feel comfortable walking up to a complete stranger and saying,“Hi! Do you mind if we sit down and share a cup of coffee?” That doesn't happen in most neighbourhoods. My whole practice has been spent convincing people that technology is not the answer to community – the answer is building buildings to the scale of human beings.
SUN XINXI
Sun Xinxi is the Editor in Chief of ELLE DECORATION China, who collaborated with XINTIANDI to present the ELLE DECORATION Cafe and pop-up stores.
I have to socialise a lot in my line of work. Some people misconstrue my dedication to attending so many events as bragging, or perhaps over-indulging, but to me these social events are a crucial part of my role in terms of acquiring the information I need to keep ELLE Decoration China current. You pick up news and different perspectives from talking to different individuals. Good conversation helps me to come up with new ideas and ways of producing content.
There are two qualities I admire the most in people I like to collaborate and work with. The first is curiosity; if you lose your curiosity on what's new in the world, then it's going to be hard to work in media. The second thing is being willing to share and spread the knowledge you have acquired with others. In terms of the community I surround myself with at work, most of my team are much younger than me. They're so inspiring, such interesting people, which makes me feel like my job is the best job in the world. And I want my team to believe that too! I want them to believe that every day they are living their best life.
To me, community is about openness. When I meet someone I open my heart and give them the real me. I feel like it's a shame to waste the precious time you have to connect with someone by being fake. In order to truly communicate with people you need to be loyal to yourself and truly show your heart to people, that's how a true community is born. It's not always easy, sometimes you can open up to someone and show them your heart but they're just not interested. But you know, who cares? You've always got more friends to make.
YUAN HONG AND SHUI JING
Yuan Hong and Shui Jing are the curators of XINTIANDI Festival: an annual, week-long festival that brings together some of the best performance acts from all over the world.
These days we use our phones to do practically everything: you don't even need to leave the house to buy new clothes or enjoy a delicious meal. But, despite that, we are still human beings. We need to talk, interact and form relationships with people. Our aim with XINTIANDI Festival is to create something that would make people excited to step away from their screens, get out of the house and experience something interesting and engaging which they could take friends and family along to, where they can share the show, the atmosphere, the food, the entertainment, and, subsequently, share real life. It's important these days for us to jump out of our phones right back into the room.
“To me, community is about openness. When I meet someone I give them the real me: I open my heart.
社群意味着坦诚和开放，和人交往的时候我总会诚心相待。”
Sun Xinxi孙信喜
So that's what we want XINTIANDI Festival to be: a collection of performances designed to bring people together. Every year we travel to different festivals all over the world and watch more than 200 performances so we can pull together a truly diverse programme for XINTIANDI Festival. We want to make a brand new experience for the audience in XINTIANDI. For example, when you go and watch a show in the West End in London, people tend to have a drink before, then after, and sometimes in the interval too. This doesn't happen in China: it's much more formal. But we thought why not recreate that kind of experience in XINTIANDI? People can go to a show, then have a bite to eat and a drink, and even indulge in a bit of shopping afterwards.
WANBING HUANG
Wanbing Huang is a highly-regarded Chinese fashion designer who now lives and works in London. Her career took off when she showed her extraordinary, ethereal collection at Shanghai Fashion Week in 2016. She is the recipient of the 2017–18 China XINTIANDI Scholarship at Central St Martins.
Human interaction, connections and relationships are so important because they are like a mirror: their reflections tell us how we can strive to live a better life. For me, community is a living, breathing place made up of a specific group of people exchanging their ideas and inspiring each other by their values, behaviours and lifestyle. The fashion community is not just a group of innovative people who strive to push boundaries of existing beauty, but also a community which allows me to creatively express my ideas. I use the community to find like-minded people and designers who have wonderful ideas. The opportunity for collaboration in the fashion world enables us to create something original with the combination of our different strengths.
In terms of my own little community – my studio – I tend to like to surround myself, and work with, people that are totally different from me, especially the logical, smart people who have unique character traits and philosophical minds. A good team is made up of members who possess different strengths and who can compensate for the weaknesses of others. With that in mind, there is no “leader” in my studio, my team members are all leaders in their own specialised fields.
Regarding the larger fashion world, I do like the democracy within it. From consumers to designers, people are able to wear designs that can express their individuality. The only thing I'm not too keen on in the fashion community is just the fast pace of it! I always wish I had just a little more time to research so I can fully immerse myself in a theme and have deeper feelings and a clear understanding of my subject matter.
LIN JIAN
Lin Jian began his career writing about music before turning his gaze to fashion and becoming one of China's most respected critics. Since 2014 he has run SHOWROOM, China's first professional showroom that enables buyers to connect with designers.
Shanghai Fashion Week began about 15 years ago. Back then the organiser was really interested in big brands from abroad. (As I remember, the very first show at Shanghai Fashion Week was a Lanvin show.) But I think the sustainable way to run a fashion week depends on what kind of designers can gain success from your platform. When I started SHOWROOM everyone thought: “Oh, it's just a show for the media or the friends of designers.” But SHOWROOM completes the industrial chain. It brings in business to the world of fashion.
When I was in my 20s, the word“community” to me meant sharing the same interests, aesthetics, and goals in life with my small gang of friends. You know, poetry, art, music and so on. Our little community was something of a spiritual home for me. Then when I was in my 30s, I opened my eyes and ears to people with different ideas. Then, community was all about the sharing of ideas, exchanging of minds and helping each other to understand a bigger world.
Now I'm 40, community has a new definition: contribution. What I mean by that is that these days I try my best to use the fashion knowledge I've picked up over the years to really help others. In terms of how I think Shanghai Fashion Week could benefit from focusing on the power of community, there is a very old Chinese saying that goes: “Govern a large country as you would fry small fish.”
“There is a very old Chinese saying that goes: “Govern a large country as you would fry small fish.
中国有句古话：‘治大国若烹小鲜’。”
Lin Jian林剑
ANNE SMITH
Anne Smith is the Dean of Academic Programmes for Fashion, Jewellery and Textiles, Product, Ceramic and Industrial Design and Spatial Practices at Central Saint Martins.
I've been at Central Saint Martins(CSM) for 27 years now, but before I began my career in education I was a designer. I worked in a very small, cheap space in south London. I was part of an artist and designer community in a converted warehouse.
We have about 5000 students at the university who come from all over the world. This gives them a really unique learning environment because they learn from all of the different backgrounds and cultures which are brought together under one roof. It equips them well because it allows them to leave education being very confident in being able to talk to and work with and alongside people from all over the world. They leave knowing that they can operate on a global platform with confidence and knowledge.
Each student has a core course which they have enrolled on, but they tend to collaborate in some shape or form with students on other courses or in pathways chosen within their own course. It really reflects how you have to operate when you graduate as well because I think your creativity is limited if all you refer to is your own discipline. That's what's so brilliant about CSM: the students learn so much from each other in this multidisciplinary community.
I think there's a real sense of belonging at CSM. It was interesting when we moved into the new building in 2011 and the academics and senior management were sceptical about open-plan areas. We have this brilliant area called the Learn Zone which is just an open-plan space filled with moveable furniture. We thought it was going to be a bit of a waste of space, but literally from the day of enrolment the students just camped out in it and it's always been packed since. You'll get an architecture student making a model next to a fashion student with a mannequin and it just works brilliantly. It's just a sign of how people operate these days, working alongside each other.
“Our aim with XINTIANDI Festival is to create something that would make people excited to step away from their screens.
表演艺术新天地的意义在于让人们满怀期待地将注意力从屏幕上移开。”
Yuan Hong & Shui Jin袁鸿与水晶
BEN WOOD
Ben Wood是Studio Shanghai建筑事务所的创始人，上海新天地的总规划建筑师。上海新天地规划的概念非常清晰纯粹——构筑一处以开放空间为主的社交之所。
当我1998年初到上海的时候，还不知道未来会如何发展，但是我能感觉得到城市更新的浪潮正在酝酿。回首过去的20年，我见证着中国中产阶级的飞速崛起，人们开始纷纷追捧设计师名牌手袋，iPhone也成为了潮人必需品。这日新月异的20年是一堂生动的课，人们在吃穿乃至圈层、社群上不断地进行选择，而这些选择又间接地建立、塑造出今日的流行文化。
因为新天地，上海至少比中国的其他城市的发展理念超前10年。我常在中国别的城市接洽别的建筑项目，很多城市都以上海为中国城市发展的标杆，而上海新天地更是常常被当作案例和典范，它让每个人都想要栖居于此。我觉得人们还未意识到了新天地作为一个文化地标的重要性，以及从商业角度出发，它获得的成功，无可估量。
有句俗话说：人选择城市，城市塑造人。择城生活是我们面对的一个重要选择，因为它冥冥中也在定义着你。从选择一方水土到决定落居何处，好的选择会让你的人生更加丰盛。假设有天你走在这样一个舒服的街道，迎面遇到一个向你打招呼的陌生人：“嗨，介意我坐这儿和你一起喝杯咖啡吗？”这在绝大多数街区并不常见。我这些年的工作其实一直在向人们传达：科技并不是凝聚社群的标准答案——它需要根据人的尺度和感知去构筑这样的社交场所。
孙信喜
孙信喜是《ELLE DECORATION家居廊》杂志编辑总监，他曾与新天地共同呈现ELLE DECORATION Café及快闪店。
因为工作的原因，我常常免不了参加各种各样的派对活动。有人说我参加这些活动是因为爱炫耀图热闹，但是事实上这些活动正是我工作中汲取信息的重要部分，它们帮助我更好地把握《ELLE DECORATION家居廊》的未来方向。通过和不同的人交流，我可以从他们身上接触时下最新的行业资讯、多视角的见解。这些都会不断刺激我们产生新的想法和创意内容。
和人打交道的时候，我最看重两个点，一是好奇心，人不好奇心态就老了，就不适合再做媒体人；二是愿意无私分享，传播自己的收获。就拿和我一同工作的伙伴来说吧，我的团队成员各个都比我年轻，他们有趣又充满活力，常常让我觉得我做着世界上最棒的一份工作，当然我希望对他们来说也是如此，每天都能收获不一样的精彩。
社群意味着坦诚和开放。我和人交往的时候总是诚心以待，虚情假意的交流只不过是浪费双方的时间。与人交往时忠于自我，诚心待人是一个真正社群得以建立的基础。当然要求所有人做到这点并不容易，有时候你交出真心却碰得一鼻子灰，但别让这个影响你，配得上你真心的朋友总会出现。
袁鸿与水晶
袁鸿与水晶是表演艺术新天地的策展人。每年，这个为期一周的表演艺术节为公众呈现世界各地艺术团体带来的精彩演出。
当今社会我们是如此地依赖手机：足不出户就能一键下单添置新衣或者点个外卖。但尽管如此，我们始终是人类，我们有表达、交流和人群连结的渴望。表演艺术新天地的意义在于让人们满怀期待地把注意力从屏幕上移开、和家人或朋友们一同到户外观赏或深入参与到纷呈的演出中。他们可以在这里看戏、同享食物和欢乐，更重要的是分享真实的生活。跳脱线上回归真实在如今这时代格外重要。
通过一系列的戏剧演出把社群凝聚起来，这是表演艺术新天地创立的初衷。每年我们会从世界各地观赏过的逾200部表演剧目中精选和策划表演艺术新天地的演出内容，确保剧目的多样性及丰富性。我们希望给来新天地的观众耳目一新的文化体验。比如在伦敦的西区，人们在看剧前后会喝上一杯，有时在幕间休息时也会吃点小食。在中国观剧变成一件特别正式的事情，所以我们觉得应该创造点不一样的观剧体验，人们可以在新天地欣赏表演同时享受着美食美酒，结束后也可以再血拼一番。
黄婉冰
黄婉冰是一位中国新锐时装设计师，她现工作生活于伦敦。2016年上海时装周上她带着她出众同时别具空灵的系列作品首次惊艳亮相。她亦是伦敦中央圣马丁艺术与设计学院2017-2018“中国新天地奖学金”获得者。
人和人之间的连结、互动就像一面镜子，映照出我们对美好的渴望。对我来说社群是由一群有着共同价值观、行为准则或者生活方式的人组成，他们互相交流、启发彼此，而这个社群本身是充满活力的生命体。时装的这个社群不仅是一群创意人士聚合在一起研究如何不断突破美的既定含义，更是我个人自我表达抒发的出口。通过这个社群，我和志同道合的设计师、有想法的伙伴走到了一起。我们之间的无限合作可能也在不断激发我们发挥所长，造我所创。
我的工作室是一个相对迷你的社群，我的工作伙伴和我的个性截然不同，他们不仅高知还特别注重逻辑条理，每个人都有自己独特的人格魅力。一个好的团队就需要成员之间博采众长，优势互补。所以我的工作室架构比较偏扁平化，没有什么上下级关系，大家会在各自专长的领域负责相应的内容板块。
从更宏大的时装界来说，我喜欢它对待所有人的那种一视同仁。消费者也好，设计师也好，每个人都可以穿着他们觉得可以表达自我的服装。只是现在整个的时尚圈的发展步伐太快了，我希望未来有更多时间可以沉浸、研究某个特定主题，让理解和共情可以上升到另一种维度。
“Human interaction and relationships are like a mirror: their reflections tell us how we can strive to live a better life.
人和人之间的连结、互动就像一面镜子，映照出我们对美好的渴望。”
Wanbing Huang黄婉冰
林剑
在成为中国颇具影响力的时装评论人前，林剑以音乐评论与策划人出道。2014年，他创立了中国第一家专业showroom“时堂”，致力于整合时装设计师、买手等上下游时尚产业链。
上海时装周已经走过了15个年头，那时候组织方的策略还是以引进国外大牌设计师品牌走秀为主（我还记得当时上海时装周的第一场走秀是Lavin）。但是我认为一个时装周是不是有可持续发展的前景，看的是什么样的设计师能够通过这个平台收获成功。我最开始做“时堂”的时候，大家都觉得这不过就是一个为媒体或者设计师好友们策划的走秀。但是“时堂”完整了时尚产业链体系，它加速了服装设计的商品化进程。
20岁的时候，我觉得社群就是一群有共同兴趣爱好、审美和生活目标的一票朋友聚在一起，可以谈谈诗歌、艺术、音乐等等，它就像是一个精神的乌托邦。等到我30岁的时候，我对不同的意见和声音变得更加包容，社群对我来说更多的是思想的交融和碰撞，让彼此触碰到更广阔的世界。
现在我40岁了，对社群这两个字又有了新的领悟：贡献。我这些年来一直致力于把我习得的时尚相关知识分享帮助他人获得成长。如果说上海时装周应该如何从不同社群身上汲取能量，我想有句中国的古话可以套用——“治大国若烹小鲜”。
ANNE SMITH
Anne Smith是中央圣马丁艺术与设计学院的学术课程主任，她负责统筹时装设计、珠宝及纺织品设计、产品设计、陶瓷设计、工业设计及空间实践的相关课程。
今年是我在中央圣马丁的第27年了。在我从教之前，我是一名设计师，在伦敦南区一个狭小但租金便宜的地方工作。在那个仓库改造的工作室里，我是艺术家和设计师社群的一份子。
在中央圣马丁，我们有5000个来自世界各地的学生，他们身上烙印着的不同的背景和文化，为他们在这个屋檐下构建了一个得天独厚的学习环境。通过和来自五湖四海的人交流与工作，他们可以从中汲取营养，并在毕业之后也能有足够的信心和知识站一个全球化视角的平台。
每一位入学的学生都需要上一门核心课程，但他们常常会和与自己专业不同的同学进行不同程度的合作。这种模式其实与日后走出校园的实际工作有着很大的相似之处。如果只是守在自己的某一小块专业条线中，那么创造力也会受到限制。这也是中央圣马丁的一大优势，在这样一个多学科的社群中，学生们会互相学习、理解彼此。
每个人都能在中央圣马丁体会到一种真正的归属感。很有意思的一件事是，2011年当我们搬进新的教学楼时，有学者和高级管理者对开放式区域持怀疑态度。我们为这个特别棒的空间取名为学习区，学习区内摆放着可移动的家具。一开始我们还有些担心是不是有点浪费空间，但开学第一天起学生们就在这里安营扎寨了，后来也几乎再没有出现过空位。你会看到一个建筑专业的学生在一个时装设计专业的学生旁边做模型，边上还竖着一个人形模特，这恰恰体现了如今人们的工作方式：协同合作。