Draftsmen's Contract
On the ramparts of the Chinese design revolution
By Cathleen McGuigan
Newsweek International
Aug. 13, 2007 issue - Architects in China have rarely had to worry about
a lack of work; a few years ago, according to a report by Rem Koolhaas
and his students at Harvard, China already had "one tenth the number of
architects as in the U.S. designing five times the volume of projects."
But the work tends to be grim; most designers toil in government
institutes, churning out blueprints for one soulless high-rise after
another. Yet amid the mediocrity a surprising new climate for
sophisticated architecture is developing, most visible in the
cutting-edge commissions for the 2008 Olympics. Those projects,
spearheaded mainly by star foreign firms, have helped inspire a design
counterculture within China, as more young architects open their own
studios and revel in experimentation. "Challenging tradition may be
China's tradition," says 31-year-old architect Ma Yansong.
cont'd....
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Aug. 13, 2007 issue - The transformation of Beijing for the 2008
Olympics is emerging as perhaps the most ambitious remake of any major
world capital in history, short of the postwar reconstructions. The
silhouettes of the spectacular new stadium and swimming center are
already familiar worldwide, but they are set in a rebuilt urban core
that startles return visitors. Lush new green spaces, swirling
expressways, shopping arcades roofed with giant LED screens, a new
downtown financial center plus a vastly expanded public trans-port
system have all rapidly appeared. To some, the Olympic-driven
metamorphosis evokes the remaking of Paris by Baron Haussmann between
1865 and 1887—a complete redesign of the city center, including the
creation of the grand boulevards for which Paris is famous today.