The New South China Mall was once promoted as the world's biggest mall, but it's now pretty much deserted. — edition.cnn.com
The shape of the new headquarters of the People's Daily, the Communist Party's main propaganda machine, has sparked heated discussion online for looking a bit too phallic.
Most photos posted on Sina Weibo, the mainland's most popular microblogging site, were removed by censors, and attempts to search for " People's Daily building" in Chinese were met with a message that read: "According to relevant laws, regulations and policies, search results cannot be displayed."
— scmp.com
SDR complained "The Saratoga Community Center is ‘traditional’ ? Really ? Brickwork with masonry or ceramic trim is no longer a viable architectural material ? What'll be declared dead, next -- the rectangle ?...I don't defend the example above as a work of architecture. I know nothing about it. But it's a surprising contender for 'traditional'--- isn't it ?)".
NewsChristopher Gray reviewed John Hill’s book A Guide to Contemporary New York City Architecture, reflected on the current revival of traditional architecture in the United States, and asked Mr. Hill if he has "a bias against the neo-traditional movement?”. SDR complained "The... View full entry »
As it was Manhattan in New York nearly a century ago, China turns into a new stage in world architecture. The facts and figures behind Asian urban growth compared to Europe are incredible: it is five times faster, what took 100 years to happen in Europe has taken place here in just 20; it is also... View full entry »
I had my first architecture exhibition early this year in Macau, China and it was the greatest experience I have ever had... The exhibition was divided into 2 halls; the primary hall included all my Graduate school work in Washington University in St. Louis - concept sketches, technical drawings, renderings and physical models. The secondary hall contained concept sketches and all my traveling / study abroad experiences in Barcelona, Spain, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Argentina and a lot more! — archinect.com
The Ping’an Finance Center is planned to top out at 660m, making it not only China’s tallest building but the second-tallest building in the world after the Burj Dubai. 80m has been built so far, but construction has been halted in the wake of the revelation from Shenzhen’s Housing and Construction Bureau that substandard sea sand concrete had been used in its construction. — wired.com
![Pudong New Area, Shanghai. [Photo by wecand]](http://cdn.archinect.net/images/514x/8i/8i18d7cvjj975c8e.jpg "Pudong New Area, Shanghai. [Photo by wecand]")
There is only so far the gap between the migrant workers and the local Shanghainese they serve can grow before the foundations of the city buckle — and only so many well-educated, English-speaking, computer-literate, world-traveling young people the city can welcome before they demand change. Modernity is about more than fast trains and tall buildings. Despite the authorities’ strict controls, some among Shanghai’s millions have surely figured this out. — Places Journal
In just two decades Shanghai has been transformed from "mothballed relic" of Maoism to one of the world's largest and most dynamic cities, complete with the fastest train on earth and more high-rise buildings than Manhattan. In an excerpt on Places from the new book A History of Future Cities... View full entry »
Chinese artist Ai Weiwei has faced censorship and imprisonment by China's government. Rita Braver reports on a U.S. exhibit of the dissident's creations. — youtube.com
In an innovative response to the current property squeeze in China, a Beijing architectural and a design firm have combined creative forces to develop a portable house and garden on the back of a tricycle.
The Tricycle House and Garden is a sustainable mobile home with its design and construction inspired by the shape and movement of an accordion. The playful designed is also being described as the “adult cardboard box fort box.”
— DesignBuild Source
The People’s Architecture Office (PAO) and People’s Industrial Design Office (PIDO) in Beijing developed the clever modular home as a single-person dwelling for those who wish to live in the city but simply cannot afford it due to increasing property prices. View full entry »
BAM recently participated in a competition in China for a 100m tall monument and 350m long pedestrian bridge that crosses an offshoot of the Yangzte River in Nanjing's new CBD district named HeXi. Unlike competitions in Western countries, this one wasn't about who would win or lose, or who would be paid or not paid, but it was about collecting as many ideas as possible. Is China doing something smart hoarding all of this design intellectual property? — Jacob Slevin, huffingtonpost.com
China is also the land of the knock-off: knock-off designer handbags, knock-off blockbuster movies on DVDs, etc. But now, it seems the knock-off has gone off the charts in terms of proportion: entire buildings. — theworld.org
As we have previously mentioned, Zaha Hadid is the latest victim of piracy in China, with a upcoming copy of her Wangjing Soho complex... scheduled to be completed before the original. NPR explores this issue with McGill architecture prof Avi Friedman. View full entry »
Star architect Zaha Hadid is currently building several projects across China. One of them, however, is being constructed twice. Pirates are the process of copying one of her provocative designs, and the race is on to see who can finish first. — spiegel online
Does she have anything to say to thousands of architecture students who copy her designs every semester? View full entry »
Massimiliano and Doriana Fuksas have won the international competition for the construction of the first cultural center in the city of Chengdu. This city is the capital of Sichuan province and was hit by a terrible earthquake in 2008. Studio Fuksas has other projects still going on in China and... View full entry »
In a bizarre dispute, a skyscraper has been built around a tombstone in the city of Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province in China.
Building developers bought a cemetery with an eye to building a series of skyscrapers on the land. Prior to construction, locals were paid to relocate the graves, yet one family refused the proposed terms, forcing developers to build around the landmass.
— DesignBuild Source
Authorities have demolished a five-story home that stood incongruously in the middle of a new main road and had become the latest symbol of resistance by Chinese homeowners against officials accused of offering unfair compensation.
Xiayangzhang village chief Chen Xuecai told The Associated Press the house was bulldozed Saturday after its owners, duck farmer Luo Baogen and his wife, agreed to accept compensation of 260,000 yuan ($41,000).
— ajc.com
Previously: Chinese Highway builds around "Nail House" protesting development View full entry »
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