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Architecture firms look East in 2010
When the world’s economies start to move into recovery the architectural landscape will be very different, with this year’s results showing a marked shift of power to the East
You can detect a sense of cautious optimism as practices in BD’s World Architecture Top 100 enter 2010 — although it will certainly have been dented as Dubai’s main developer announced it was sinking under its debts.
It’s yet another sign that when the recovery does come, it will certainly not be a return to life as it was before the crash.
This year’s survey of global practices reveals strong indications that the money, the work and the power have irrevocably headed East. For a start, Japanese practice Nikken Sekkei is back at number one, and Chinese practice
P&T Architects & Engineers appears in the top 10 for the first time — these are the only firms in the top 10 to have significantly increased their architectural headcount.
It was a year when you could climb up the table just by staying still or shedding just slightly fewer staff than your ailing peers.
So it’s perhaps more revealing to look at changes in headcount than in ranking.
There were 13 new entries in the Top 100 table. Of the others reshuffled from last year, 53 now employ fewer architects, 27 employ more and seven have remained steady.
Source: Building Design
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