Although Beijing is as big as you expect -a dauntingly gridlocked, teeming, dust-laden bigness- it is only the third largest city in China. It trails behind Guangzhou and Shanghai. But as the capital most likely to take over from Washington as the world's effective centre of supreme power, Beijing has a hell of a swagger to it. And this is one reason why it's such a joke that London is doing the Olympics in 2012. Because when you see what Beijing is doing for 2008, you wonder why we bother. Gabion
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pearman's last line nails it for me. sure, so far beijings's olympic architecture has more wow - it's a city trying to reinvent itself in a country trying to reinvent itself.
london is london and doesn't have anything to prove except that it can put on a great sporting event. because, after all, the olympics isn't JUST about architecture...
i think there's something admirable about the sophistication and non-noisiness/restraint of the london projects proposed to date. i wish the logo designers had taken that cue.
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