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Residential lockdowns of varying strictness — from checkpoints at building entrances to hard limits on going outdoors — now cover at least 760 million people in China, or more than half the country’s population, according to a New York Times analysis of government announcements in provinces and major cities. Many of these people live far from the city of Wuhan, where the virus was first reported and which the government sealed off last month. — The New York Times
The New York Times presents an eye-opening report detailing the varying degrees to which hundreds of millions of people in China are currently under some form of residential lockdown as the country attempts to stop the spread of the deadly SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Chinese authorities have... View full entry
Located in the city of Jiangyin, China, the new Brearley Architects + Urbanists (BAU)-designed greenway captures the local push toward more sustainable transport and builds on the formal qualities of the nearby Yangtze River. Through geographical mimicry, the formal manifestation of the... View full entry
The He Art Museum (HEM) announced today that it will postpone its launch originally scheduled for 21 March due to uncertainties stemming from redoubled efforts to contain the 2019 novel coronavirus, or 2019-nCoV. The new private project in Shunde district of the city of Foshan in Guangdong Province is backed by Midea electronics founder He Jianfeng with a 16,000 sq m double helix structured building designed by Tadao Ando. — The Art Newspaper
The privately-owned He Art Museum (HEM) in Foshan City, China commissioned Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando in September 2015 to design its new gallery spaces and started construction in December of the same year, according to the museum's website. Tadao Ando sketch © He Art Museum... View full entry
The first patients arrived Monday at a specialized hospital built in just 10 days as part of China’s intensive efforts to fight a new virus.
Huoshenshan Hospital and a second facility with 1,500 beds that’s due to open this week were built by construction crews who are working around the clock in Wuhan, the city in central China where the outbreak was first detected in December. Most of the city’s 11 million people are barred from leaving the area.
— Los Angeles Times
The hospital was built by a 7,000-member crew of carpenters, plumbers, electricians and other specialists, the Los Angeles Times reports. The final result is a two-story, 600,000-square-foot facility, containing isolations wards and 30 intensive care units. According to the Los Angeles Times... View full entry
Zaha Hadid Architects had the winning proposal to design the new Shenzhen headquarters for consumer electronics company OPPO, China's leading smartphone manufacturer. In stage two of the competition, ZHA was one of five big-name finalist teams, which included BIG, SOM, Rogers Stirk Harbour +... View full entry
Medics in Wuhan, the city of 11 million people where the virus originated, have described overcrowded hospitals and a shortage of test kits, protective gear, and other medical equipment.
To alleviate this pressure, city authorities last Friday announced plans to build a new hospital from scratch in just six days, to be used beginning February 3.
— Business Insider
Chinese officials are under increasing pressure to combat the spread of the deadly coronavirus which has already claimed the lives of at least 130 people and is quickly spreading around the world. The epidemic originated in Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China and home to more than... View full entry
Zaha Hadid Architects' 67-hectare “Unicorn Island” masterplan in Chengdu is slowly beginning to take shape with the near-completion of its first building, a start-up exhibition and conference center. The masterplan's catchy name “Unicorn Island” might make it sound like some sort of... View full entry
China’s largest property developer by sales Country Garden is planning to start mass production of construction robots next year to cut costs and raise efficiency, it said on Friday.
The group, which started investing in robotics research and development in 2018, said it aims to have at least one robot at each of its sites across the nation.
— Reuters
According to Reuters, Country Garden Holdings Co. Ltd. has signaled its intention to invest more than $2 billion in robotics each year for the next five years to boost automation in the company's construction, agriculture, restaurant, and property management businesses. To showcase its... View full entry
When Archinect first covered the Wuxi Taihu Theatre project back in 2018, many were mesmerized by the theatre's alluring design and its resemblance to China's iconic bamboo rainforest. A year later, Archinect catches up with London-based architect Steven Chilton of SCA | Steven Chilton... View full entry
With the completion of Hutong Bubble 218, MAD Architects made one step forward with their Beijing 2050 proposal, which they introduced during the 2006 Venice Architecture Biennale. The latest Hutong Bubble project features metallic “bubbles” embedded on the rooftop of a 305-square-meter... View full entry
Beijing's latest, hotly anticipated skyscraper opened to the public today: the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Leeza SOHO tower already made a big splash in architectural media long before it was even finished with its 623-foot-tall, full-height atrium (the world's tallest) and spectacular... View full entry
At a total investment of 24 billion yuan (S$4.65 billion), the 1.12 million square metre (sq m) Raffles City Chongqing is Singapore’s largest single development in China. In addition to the 235,000 sq m retail podium, the integrated development comprises the 201 unit Ascott Raffles City Chongqing serviced residence, 380 room InterContinental Raffles City Chongqing hotel, 150,000 sq m of Grade A office space and 1,400 luxury residential apartments. — The Business Times
After reaching structural completion only a few months ago, the Safdie Architects-designed $3.4 billion Raffles City Chongqing megadevelopment recently celebrated its phased opening. An earlier September soft opening of the enormous five-story shopping mall reportedly attracted a whopping... View full entry
China’s growing obsession with glass bridges may be coming to an abrupt end, after a series of accidents led one province to close down all its glass-bottomed attractions.
Hebei, a scenic mountainous province in northern China, has quietly closed all 32 of its glass bridges, walkways and mountain viewing platforms over the past year for safety reasons [...].
— The Guardian
Despite being breathtaking engineering marvels, China's fascination with glass-bottom bridges hasn't been without setbacks: in August 2016, the world's highest and longest glass-bottom bridge, the Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon glass bridge, opened in central Hunan province — but had to close... View full entry
An underground car park that was under construction in southwest China collapsed, killing eight people and injuring two others, official media said Tuesday.
State broadcaster CCTV said the 10 people were trapped in the rubble when the collapse occurred Monday afternoon in Guizhou province's Guiyang city.
— ABC News
Three workers were able to escape the scene. The 10 trapped workers were rescued early on Tuesday local time, reports ABC. View full entry
Beijing is seeing the completion of two high-profile, record-setting skyscrapers this fall: while the Zaha Hadid Architects-designed Leeza SOHO Tower with its 623-foot-tall, full-height atrium (the world's tallest) will open to the public in November, the 1,732-foot supertall CITIC Tower already... View full entry
