Clockwise from top: Bund 18 is Filippo Gabbiani's first large-scale renovation project in Shanghai. Bund 18 changes perceptions about what can be achieved with a historic building sensitively restored. The Venetian architect (right) and his Kokai Studios partner Andrea Destefanis. Photos provided to China Daily

Related:A skyline all their own

At age 24, he won a European Community-sponsored competition on the use of transparent solar cells in architecture while cooperating with an engineering firm.

"We developed the first self-sufficient solar energy village in the world in Spain and then sold the technology to Permasteelisa," he recalls.

His natural curiosity led him to travel the world, working with international architects on competition submissions and winning projects.

Working as a graphic designer and architect, he lived in Spain, Toronto, New York City, San Francisco, Denmark and Hong Kong until he set up Kokai Studios with Destefanis in 2000.

Initially, their office was based in Venice. But Gabbiani found work increasingly brought him to China.

"I have been in love with China since I was a kid," Gabbiani says.

"Venice is not really a Western city — it's a bridge between the world and Europe. It's more like an Asian city. It has a combination of an Asian feel and way of life."

In 1992, he took a break from university and backpacked all over China.

"When I had the chance to come back to the Far East, I didn’t waste a second," he says.

Gabbiani found the China of the early 21st century vastly different from the China he remembered, which is fast disappearing.

"The cash-in-and-run-away practice that everyone has adopted is unsustainable," he says.

"China's culture, history and time have solidified buildings into something important. Our mission is to save heritage buildings and relay their stories."

He found restoring the Art Deco gems proved daunting at first, as the craftsmen capable of executing high-quality work had disappeared during the "cultural revolution" (1966-76).

"We had to hunt them down," he says.

Bund 18, his first large-scale renovation project in Shanghai, helped change people's perceptions about what can be achieved with a historic building sensitively restored.

Kokai also worked with some of its shops on branding, and it now handles a significant amount of retail projects.

Many of Gabbiani's projects are situated in historic buildings, yet their contemporary designs never appear incongruous.

Gabbiani and Destanfis have lectured students of the University of Hong Kong's architectural conservation program. Gabbiani considers himself a master builder and compares Kokai Studios to a 21st-century equivalent of a Renaissance workshop in Italy.

"We like building things, and our office is very collaborative," he says.

"So many architects today are superstars, who only design for themselves. I work with all my senses.

"There is a big market opening up in China for conservation and restoration. And there is a lot of room for high-quality design. I have a lot to teach and a lot to do."

Contact the writer at sundayed@chinadaily.com.cn.