An abandoned skyscraper still stands incomplete in the bustling capital of Guangdong Province after 16 years because no one is brave enough to ask for it to be torn down.

The 46-story building looks strange as it towers over Guangzhou, a commercial hub in southern China with a population of more than 12 million. Its location just behind a golden high-rise building -- popular in China -- and luxury hotels makes the concrete shell look especially creepy and eerie. — Nikkei Asian Review

Artist/photographer Andi Schmied chose one of these Chinese new towns as the subject for a project that goes beyond merely capturing a desolate townscape. Jing Jin City, 100 miles from Beijing, is a luxury resort town consisting of some 4000 villas, a Hyatt Regency resort spa and amenities such as a golf course and a horse racing track. It is not really a ghost town, however, since it is partially populated, but many of the villas remain in various states of completion. — failedarchitecture.com

All of America’s cement consumption during the [20th] century adds up to around 4.4 gigatons (1 gigaton is roughly 1 billion metric tons).

In comparison, China used around 6.4 gigatons of cement in the three years of 2011, 2012 and 2013 [...]

The country is urbanizing at a historic rate, much faster than the U.S. did in the 20th Century. More than 20 million Chinese relocate to cities each year, which is more people than live in downtown New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago combined. — washingtonpost.com

The Chinese government has promised to protect a rural mountain village that contains some of the country’s oldest temples and residences. [...]

Despite designating Banpo as a protected heritage site in 2007, the Jincheng city government nonetheless allowed the Shanxi Jincheng Anthracite Mining Group to displace the village later that year. [...] Nearly every building was destroyed and those that remained were left in ruins. — theartnewspaper.com

Outside, across the car park of this otherwise unremarkable industrial estate, is a grand, neoclassical mansion that recently became a global internet sensation . It is the world’s first 3D-printed villa. [...]

Not all architects are convinced that 3D printing is good for architecture as a discipline. [...] "It may come without economic cost at a small scale but in architecture, if we are not careful, this is at the expense of integrity.” — theguardian.com

Plans for a replica Crystal Palace have suffered a set back after a south London council pulled out of negotiations with a Chinese developer.

ZhongRong Group wants to rebuild Crystal Palace, which burnt down in 1936, but has failed to meet a deadline set by the council to produce plans. — bbc.com

Manhattan may be a bustling metropolis filled with busy people rushing off to work, the theatre, restaurants and the myriad attractions the city has to offer. A replica in China, complete with knock-offs of Rockefeller Center and the Hudson River, is missing that one key element that makes New York, New York: the people. [...]

“All of these tall buildings just appeared,” one local man recently told CTV News. — ctvnews.ca

For 70 years, Mr. Wu has ridden out the country’s political storms, including one that killed his mentor, to establish himself as the most influential architect, urban planner and éminence grise of China’s cities. But looking out the window of his apartment in this city’s northern suburbs, he can only shake his head at the dim building emerging from the haze.

“Our environment is unfit for daily life, and the responsibility is very heavy on our shoulders,” he said. — nytimes.com

China's smog-shrouded, overcrowded, traffic-choked capital has become unlivable.

And that's not the assessment of some tourist or disgruntled cubicle-dweller: That's the mayor talking. [...]

"In establishing a top-tier, internationalized livable and harmonious city, Beijing is currently establishing a system of standards, something that is very important," Wang said in comments reported by state news outlets. "At the present time, however, Beijing is not a livable city." — VICE

For six months starting on May 1st, Milan is hosting the World Expo, which has been held every five years since 1851 as a showcase for human progress. [...]

Of the 53 countries constructing pavilions, China is building not one, but five. [...]

Like many pavilions in the Expo, the designs of the Chinese-sponsored buildings are nothing if not adventurous—even though president Xi Jinping has called for an end to “weird architecture” [...]. — qz.com

Greenland’s affordable housing venture in Brooklyn, 298 apartments in an 18-story building in Prospect Heights, is part of a larger 15-tower apartment project in Atlantic Yards, (now rebranded “Pacific Park) adjacent to the Barclays Center, which will cost an estimated $4.9 billion to build. Half of the 298 units are supposed to be for families that make as low as 40% of the median income for the area—that’s about $33,560 for a family of four. — qz.com

OMA appears to be rolling up their sleeves before the holidays: last Friday, we published new details on their Norra Tornen twin towers in Stockholm, and now we're kicking the week off with a recent competition win in China, the Lujiazui Exhibiton Center at the banks of the mighty Huangpu River in Shanghai.

Conceptualized as a "spatial armature," the exhibition center will rise on the grounds of the former Shanghai Shipyard and aims for completion by the end of 2015. — bustler.net

The Hebei Academy of Fine Arts in China’s Hebei Province has constructed a new campus in Xinle City that, rather than resembling local architecture, adheres more to Gothic and European styles. Specifically, it bears a striking resemblance to the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. [...]

But the new building is actually called “Cinderella’s Castle,” and was modeled on structures from medieval Europe. Unfortunately, the building has little to do with Cinderella or Hogwarts. — Entertainment Weekly