Republic officially started its Shanghai operation on July 1st, 2008. About a month and a half before that, Clint and I were still struggling to find studio space for our office. Through sheer luck and fortune, we came across our current location, 696 Weihai Lu, which is in the heart of downtown Shanghai, a block and a half away from the metro, and seriously a super bargain compared to the other places we had been looking at. I love that this happened to us; I always figured it was a good omen.
I just peaked out the window and caught a glimpse of Plaza 66 sheathed in the sometimes beautiful dusk of Shanghai. The weather has been so shitty the past couple of months that it was easy to forget awesome this city can look. This view on the left is one of the reasons why it was so tempting to open up our space for a grand opening party. The one that we were supposed to have but have yet to get to, even though it’s been nearly nine full months since we’ve grandly opened.
Then again, the view is just one of several considerations when deciding whether or not to invite people to a certain location. This picture on the right is of the men’s toilet, which is shared by us and the other artists and designers and frequent migrant laborers than reside on our floor. And this is a shot of it on a good day. It takes some getting used to, but obviously it makes one want to stay away from Indian food when one has to spend most of his waking day here.
Could be worse, the ground floor one just past the guards on the first corner is quite stinky in summer, and our studio is almost opposite! Count yourself lucky