Architecture

Beijing architecture fest

too_many_tribbles_CCTV.jpg
CCTV building; detail of photo by TooManyTribbles

The last week has seen a crop of reports about Beijing's new architecture:

The Architectural Record has published a Beijing special called Record Reveals: Beijing.

It includes a labeled Google Earth map of Beijing, profiles of important Beijing-based architects and landmark new buildings (although only the usual suspects from the CCTV tower to the Bird's Nest), an article by Michael Meyer, author of The Last Days of Old Beijing, as well as photos and many other articles.

The New York Times has also published a rather enthusiastic special report:

tto_many_tribbles_nest.jpg
The Bird's Nest; photo by TooManyTribbles

In Changing Face of Beijing, a Look at the New China
by Nicolas Ouroussoff

If Westerners feel dazed and confused upon exiting the plane at the new international airport terminal here, it’s understandable. It’s not just the grandeur of the space. It’s the inescapable feeling that you’re passing through a portal to another world, one whose fierce embrace of change has left Western nations in the dust.

See also Interactive map of Beijing new architecture.

And then there's this awfully titled piece in Vanity Fair:

digital_building_too_many_tribbles.jpg
The Digital Building; photo by TooManyTribbles

From Mao to Wow
by Kurt Andersen

Just as many of New York City’s most iconic landmarks rose in breathtakingly brief succession a century ago, Beijing has been re-inventing itself since 2001 with a rush of showstopping buildings by internationally renowned architects: Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron’s National Stadium, Steven Holl’s Linked Hybrid complex, Rem Koolhaas’s China Central Television headquarters, and Norman Foster’s Terminal 3.

On the eve of a controversial Olympics, Kurt Andersen sees China’s true promise in a more enduring spectacle of daring commissions, bravura engineering, and creatively humanistic design.

Finally, the photos above are by TooManyTribbles: see her blog, or her Flickr page.

There are currently 0 Comments for Beijing architecture fest.

Post a comment

All comments are moderated and subject to review by Danwei contributors and editors, but well-grounded and articulate comments will be published regardless of which way they lean. Because comments published on any website ultimately contribute to the character of that website, we may decline to publish comments that are irrelevant, redundant, or that do not adhere to generally accepted standards of courtesy; if you are looking for a fight, there are plenty of other venues available online.


Some useful html: <b>bold</b>, <i>italic</i>,
<a href="http://www.danwei.org">link</a>

Media Partners
Visit these sites for the latest China news
090609guardian2.png 090609CNN3.png
China Media Timeline
Major media events over the last three decades
Danwei Model Workers
laomo2008fpA.jpg
Recommended blogs and new media
Books on China
AXL100219hktales.jpg
Tales of Old Hong Kong: The new Tales of Old Hong Kong compiled by Derek Sandhaus is available at Earnshaw Books.
Diamond Hill by Feng Chi-shun: Feng's memoir Diamond Hill describes an era of gambling and gangsters, Suzie Wong and squatter villages, fires and food stalls, and the Kowloon Walled City and its white powder. "A time when people were poor, but life was rich," he says. The world that he grew up in no longer exists, but his book - the first ever on the Diamond Hill refugee settlement, in either Chinese or English - offers a candid picture of what life was like for most Hong Kong residents in the 1950s.
William A. Callahan's China: The Pessoptimist Nation: China: The Pessoptimist Nation shows how the heart of Chinese foreign policy is not a security dilemma, but an identity dilemma. Through a careful analysis of how Chinese people understand their new place in the world, the book charts how Chinese identity emerges through the interplay of positive and negative feelings in a dynamic that intertwines China's domestic and international politics.
Front Page of the Day
A different newspaper every weekday
From the Vault
Classic Danwei posts
+ Lost in Beijing finally gets killed (2008.01): SARFT (广电总局) brings down the hammer on Lost in Beijing (苹果), one year after its offense.
+ People: Tina Liu (2004.09): Tina Liu is Hong Kong's most prominent image stylist, but her mercurial career has involved her in almost every aspect of Hong Kong's media world.
+ Asimov Published, Interviewed in Beijing (2005.03): Cover story from this week's Book Review section of The Beijing News announces the publication of a Chinese translation of Isaac Asimov's complete Foundation series. Yup, the Beijing News has scored a fictional interview with "I, Asimov". They've been taking similar liberties recently in their entertainment sections, captioning photographs of celebrities with made-up quotes.
Danwei Archives
Danwei Feeds
Via Feedsky rsschiclet2.png (on the mainland)
or Feedburner rsschiclet.gif (blocked in China)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Main feed: Main posts (FB has top links)
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Top Links: Links from the top bar
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Jobs: Want ads
rsschiclet2.png rsschiclet.gif Danwei Digest: Updated daily, 19:30