Skyscrapers top out nearly every day in cities across China, making it increasingly difficult for architects to distinguish themselves on the skyline. Some aspiring types believe the antidote is in ever more bizarre designs. The contours of Beijing's new HQ for the People's Daily newspaper, for instance, are alarmingly priapic; officials in Fushun commissioned a giant steel ring that appears to have no interior square footage at all.
See China's latest wave of development
Still, the past several months have brought their share of sensible, groundbreaking designs - from skilled practices both domestic and international. Not that they're less ambitious; some of these projects are astonishing to imagine and would likely be unfeasible anywhere else on earth but in China's vast and rapidly developing territory. And yet here they are as completed or near-completed works.
Seen together, they capture an image of a China on the move, not just economically, but culturally. Theatres, art museums and tourist hubs beckon for a population that, only a decade ago, had barely travelled for leisure. They're also putting regional China on the map for the rest of the world. That can only lead to a better understanding of this enigmatic country, its people and the forces behind its speedy transformation.
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Jaguar reveals its new graphic identity ahead of a long-awaited total brand rebootJaguar’s new ethos is Exuberant Modernism, encapsulated by a new visual language that draws on fine art, fashion and architecture
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Olfactory Art Keller: the New York gallery exhibiting the smell of vintage perfume, blossoming lilacs and last night’s shameOlfactory Art Keller is a Manhattan-based gallery space dedicated to exhibiting scent as art. Founder Dr Andreas Keller speaks with Lara Johnson-Wheeler about the project, which doesn’t shy away from the ‘unpleasant’
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Explore a barn conversion with a difference on the Isle of WightGianni Botsford Architects' barn conversion transforms two old farm buildings into an atmospheric residence and artistic retreat, The Old Byre
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Raw, refined and dynamic: A-Cold-Wall*’s new Shanghai store is a fresh take on the industrial lookA-Cold-Wall* has a new flagship store in Shanghai, designed by architecture practice Hesselbrand to highlight positive spatial and material tensions
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Sun Tower is a new Chinese cultural attraction that draws on the celestial cycleSun Tower, an imaginative cultural attraction by Open Architecture, draws on the natural cycle and has just opened in China's seaside town of Yantai
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The Suzhou visitor centre in China is a perfect balance of contemporary innovation and cultural identityThe Suzhou visitor centre in China is designed by Tsing-Tien Making, a studio that designs to preserve cultural identity
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Architectural Association's newest show uncovers the architectural legacies of rural China's lost generationThe Architectural Association’s ‘Ripple Ripple Rippling’ is not your typical architecture show, taking an anthropological look at the flux between rural and urban, and bringing a part of China to Bedford Square in London
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Private museum Simple Design Archive is a ‘poetic sound sanctuary’ in ChinaSimple Design Archive, located in China’s Anhui province, is a private museum by HAS Design and Research, fostering a contemplative environment
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Neri & Hu’s dynamic New Bund theatre takes centre stage in Shanghai’s cityscapeIn Shanghai, Neri & Hu’s New Bund 31 Performing Arts Center is a theatre offering a contemporary take on a classical archetype
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Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024: meet the practicesIn the Wallpaper* Architects Directory 2024, our latest guide to exciting, emerging practices from around the world, 20 young studios show off their projects and passion
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Tsing-Tien Making's approach is rooted in its 'passion' for architectureTsing-Tien Making, a young Chinese practice, joins the Wallpaper* Architects’ Directory 2024
