A towering presence

Ming Wu has a unique perspective on the skylines of the United States and China.

As a principal in the international architecture firm Perkins Eastman, he has designed skyscrapers and other buildings in the New York area and across China.

The New York-based firm, which established a permanent office in Shanghai in 2000, has been involved in more than 100 projects in China, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing; the Guangzhou master plan; the Hopkins-Nanjing University Center for Chinese-American Studies; the Chongqing Library; the Ningbo metro station; the Shandong University Qingdao campus and scores of others.

Wu is Chinese American and a graduate of Harvard University and the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

“I’m a Connecticut Yankee by birth,” was how he slyly described himself to China Daily.

His mother was originally from the Beijing area and his father from Fuzhou, although they met in the United States.

“A lot of the firm’s work and much of my work is in China,” Wu said. “Most of the work I’m personally directing is in China.”

Another project he is personally directing is 99 Hudson in Jersey City.

Wu said the bidding process for the design contract was “very competitive”, with five firms vying for the deal. But he said that he is quite familiar with China Overseas America’s parent company (China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd in Hong Kong, a subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corp in Beijing).

“When I go to Jersey City, it reminds me of China, because there’s so much construction activity everywhere you look,” he said. “There’s definitely a vibrancy there. It’s really enjoying a market resurgence. … A lot of Jersey City’s fortunes obviously ride on New York. … I really like what I see happening in Jersey City.

“The value proposition (of 99 Hudson) is really about capturing the sweeping views of the Hudson River and the Manhattan skyline. That’s what we’re selling.”

The building site is a block from the waterfront esplanade in downtown Jersey City and “it really enjoys a front row seat on the Manhattan skyline”.

Wu calls a lot of the buildings going up in the area “needle towers” because of their slim profile. He said that a lot of young people working in Manhattan find Jersey City “a very attractive alternative” not only to Manhattan but to Brooklyn hot spots such as Williamsburg and Greenpoint.

“With the PATH train service, it’s a very, very easy commute to Manhattan,” he said, adding that many of the young people working in his office live in Jersey City.

Wu said the downtown is expanding quickly.

“We are busy, as are a lot of other architectural practices,” Wu said. “Jersey City really has redevelopment momentum behind it now.”

— WILLIAM HENNELLY