Architect and designer Genco Berk has been looking worldwide for
"my kind of town." Now he has found it. But he warns that Shanghai
is not for first-time expats but for those "with some life
experience".
Art and creativity, for many people, are a discovered passion.
But for one Austrian expat who grew up in Istanbul, it also seems
to be genetic.
Having grown up in a bohemian family, splitting his childhood
between Germany and Turkey, architect and designer Genco Berk
followed in his family's footsteps.
His father is renowned Turkish abstract artist Abdurrahman
Oztoprak, who also is a freelance architect; his mother, Ayten
Oztoprak, is a painter.
His father urged him to go to medical school, so that he would
have a well-paid profession and job security. It didn't take; he
left after a semester and studied architecture and design in the
United States. He settled in Austria for 14 years, and has traveled
widely, looking for "my kind of town ... my kind of city."
He may have found it in Shanghai: He moved here three years
ago.
Today Berk, 47, designs the interiors of high-end villas and
other residences. He hopes to include the work of young Chinese
designers in his new projects.
"I grew up in an artistic environment and that way of living and
working influenced me deeply," says Berk, who was reared in
Istanbul. "My parents, both artists, used to work from home. So I
grew up in a house that was always dealing with creativity. I
learned things one does not learn by studying."
When he was 10 years old, most of his friends were reading comic
strips - he was reading international design magazines.
Berk switched quickly from medicine to architecture and design.
As a professional architect, he worked in Vienna for 14 years. "I
was restlessly looking for my kind of city," he says.
Despite success in Europe, he decided to move to Vancouver,
British Columbia in Canada, only to find after a few months "that
it wasn't really my kind of town."
Four years later, in 2004, he decided to try China. "I was still
looking for my kind of city and living in many countries had raised
the threshold, but on the other hand I also knew what I was looking
for."
At the time, he says, "I had no expectations at all when I moved
here. I think this is the best way, especially when you come to
Shanghai. I have been to other developing countries and China is
very different. It has achieved much more in shorter time."
Berk says his childhood in Istanbul helped him to adapt to
China. "Istanbul prepared me for Shanghai without knowing it at the
time. When you live in a Third World country, you learn to be more
patient and accept things for what they are without making
comparisons.
"I was used to things such as water shortages and electricity
cuts and learned how to deal with them. This is not the same in
Shanghai but through this previous experience I can appreciate just
small things and understand how to accept different cultures'
annoyances."
He works independently, mostly in interior design; most of his
clients are expats.
"I do not do a nine-to-five day and weekends. I like to work
anytime I want. I do not like group dynamics and I am lucky that I
can live and work in my own way. This keeps me motivated."
Explaining communications in his job, he says: "It involves
actual body language skills and trusting instincts. If you cannot
do that, then you are in trouble. Since things are done in a very
fast way, you need to know where and how much you want to
compromise."
Berk's style is Asian-inspired: "I try to combine elements of
Asia with my minimalist yet elegant style."
The design industry here is dynamic, he says. "What appeals is
the desire to create something new every day. I am lucky because I
am asked to create something new in each project."
However, this also comes with problems.
"Most clients are not yet mature enough to appreciate a good
designer. They are comparing apples with peaches, and at the end
they choose the cheaper one. At the end they bound for a headache
and spend too much money for less quality."
However, he looks toward future projects and promoting talented
local designers, such as mural and graphic artist Zhang Weiwei. He
plans to include her works and those of others in his residential
interior designs.
It is hard for local designers who have reached a certain level
to advance, he concludes.
"This way it gives them a head start and allows me to enrich my
designs," he says.
(Shanghai Daily November 14, 2007)
