Before the 2000s, contemporary Chinese architecture barely registered on the global radar.

The years following the 1949 communist revolution were characterized by a utilitarianism that considered the discipline a matter of engineering, not art. Communist China founder Mao Zedong's disdain for history also saw the widespread destruction of old structures, and only a last-minute intervention by his premier, Zhou Enlai, allegedly prevented him from tearing down the Forbidden City itself.

In the latter stages of the 20th century, few buildings of international interest or renown were ever realized on the mainland. One of the noteworthy exceptions, the late I. M. Pei's tranquil Fragrant Hills Hotel, fell into disrepair shortly after opening in 1982.

But a post-millennium construction boom changed all that. [However,] for every success, there were countless opportunities for ridicule: a coin-shaped office block in Guangzhou, an arts center in Zhengzhou resembling a collection of otherworldly eggs, and a gate-like Suzhou skyscraper whose likeness to a pair of pants was pointed out with far less affection. Local architects followed suit, with buildings resembling teapots, musical instruments, a cellphone and even a giant crab.

These bizarre forms make up just a fraction of the country's architectural output, according to Lu Andong, a professor at Nanjing University's School of Architecture and Urban Planning. But the media became attached to the "weird China" narrative -- so much so, that images of an unfinished tower went viral for its seemingly rude appearance, despite the final design being no more phallic than any of its neighbors

....

"Around 2008 to 2010, there were more and more architects -- many of whom were educated overseas -- coming back to China. And they were familiar with how the international architecture sphere, or culture, operated... There was a change in the intellectual paradigm."

This period, and the years immediately after, saw Chinese architects making their mark globally. By 2012, Wang Shu had become the first mainland Chinese winner of the Pritzker Prize, the "Nobel Prize" of architecture. And Ma Yansong, founder of MAD Architects, began garnering international recognition -- and overseas commissions -- for his flowing, curvilinear buildings inspired by Chinese art. (More recently, Ma was chosen to design the long-awaited Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in L.A., arguably the most prominent US project by a Chinese architect to date).