Brewmaniac

China's New Architectural Wonders

These are incredible works, the amount of detail and money is staggering! Would someone help this old dial-up”er out and post up the pictures? They really are quite amazing!

Slideshow

China's New Architectural Wonders
In our ongoing series on the world's most amazing buildings we look at the unprecedented building boom in Beijing and beyond

When global audiences tune in to watch the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the world's fastest and strongest athletes won't be alone in striving for superlative achievements -- a new generation of innovative architecture is rising in China. Fueled by a surging economy (the latest Chinese census, released on Dec. 20, says the country's GDP is $1.93 trillion, or 16.8% higher than previously measured), China will soon be home to the world's largest airport, the world's first fully sustainable city, and the world's highest outdoor observation deck, to name just a few of its innovative architectural feats.

With spending on China's residential building construction growing at 7.1% annually and nonresidential construction activity increasing by 7.4% (according to Cleveland-based researchers the Freedonia Group), the world's most populated country is experiencing a building boom of unprecedented scale.

The phenomenon is reaching beyond Beijing and Shanghai. As The New York Times recently reported, even the lesser-known northern city of Harbin is remaking itself with a new urban center. Built from scratch, a virtually instant skyline of residential and commercial skyscrapers is starting to sprout within a 285-square-mile area.

PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES. Still, it's Beijing and Shanghai, the nation's most populous cities, that are attracting the most attention. The roster of talent hired to complete projects in these two megacities reads like a Who's Who of star architects: Holland's Rem Koolhaas, Switzerland's Herzog & de Meuron, and Britain's Foster & Partners are all completing buildings scheduled to debut by the time the Olympic torch is lit.

But more remarkable than the architects' names are the projects themselves. The CCTV tower designed by Koolhaas, resembles nothing so much as a skyscraper tumbling into a somersault and required an entirely new structural system. The new Olympic stadium by Herzog & de Meuron -- nicknamed "the bird's nest" -- will be the world's largest "green" sports arena.

The following 10 projects range from residential to infrastructure. Each, in its way, pushes the boundaries of the architectural status quo. Together, they represent the wonders rising on the skyline of the new China.

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ziadel

I so wish china wasnt communist
I'd love to go there.

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Carno

Man those things are awesome. Really beautiful architecture!

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thesupermikey

its not the communism that bothers me really. Its the totalitarian control and human rights violations.

but yeah. This is all very cool stuff.

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Brewmaniac

Thanks, Carn! I just didn't have it in me to battle this slow connection.

Unbelievable images and such unconventional designs.

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Carno

No problem

They really are beautiful structures. It will be interesting to see what the stadium actually looks like when it is built.

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serlindsipity

amazing. they really are moving forward... well at least economically and socially...

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Brewmaniac

That should be cool from the inside looking up and I also want to see the bubble building it looks very interesting.

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highthief

I'd rather visit "Communist" China than "free" Russia. Goddam democratic Russia is far more fucked up than big, bad China.

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ziadel

exactly what do you base your opinion on?

from what I understand religious types are being rounded up and killed in china as we speak...
russia seems pretty sedate, a lot of crime, but no death camps.

I'll take the chance of my rental car being stolen over being thrown into a death camp any day of the week...

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feelgood

Quit thread-jacking

Other than that, anybody noticed that building #4 looks like a giant bottle opener?

highthief

You're chances, as foreign tourist, of being tossed into a "death camp" as you call it in China, are infintesimal. China is stark raving mad (in a happy, jolly way) over foreign tourism and investment.

Meanwhile Mother Russia continues to suffer terrorist attacks that, in their accumulated kills and property losses, make 9/11 look like a day at the damn beach, all while the Russian Mafia bleeds the people dry.

China is on a much better path than Russia.

Sorry for the threadjack.

The architecture is very nice, most of it built with foreign investment.

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Stiltzkin

Seems too idealistic to me. I wonder if maybe one or two of these projects will be cancelled before they are actually completed (like the Dongtan Eco City, for example).

rofgilead

I don't understand what is so amazing about the second picture's structure? It looks just like someone has a nice patio view of the mountains?

I do think that China is gaining immensely neat structures - I wish the US would invest more in our structures (our business models for companies are = build very square boring brick buildings, because that is the cheapest way to build = cheap is the only option due to competition). Two points I have heard people make, is that most of the designers are not Chinese, and that the building construction may look nice but use poor techniques inside the structures. Ie, they may not all be very safe structures...

goddfather40

I have been to China in the last year and I agree with highthief here. You wouldn't even think you are in a communist country if you were there. The only reminder of communism I saw was one sign on a highway with a hammer and sickle on it. I felt very safe in China.

What they are doing to the country is remarkable...at least in an economic sense. If you compare to where China was at during the dark days of the Cultural Revolution a mere 40 years ago, or even 20 years ago, the progress is amazing.

The human rights issues are a definite sticking point. But, to the best of my knowledge, most companies over there are not government controlled, so why punish the people for the ills of their government? Because of foreign investment and internal economic factors, the quality of life for many Chinese has greatly improved.

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Pragma

When I was in Hong Kong a month ago (and granted, Hong Kong is not mainland China), the only evidence of communism that I saw - anywhere - was a "Get rid of Communism" protest movement (consisting of three people) in a very very remote location. Other than that, I wouldn't have been able to make a guess at what system of government they were using.

The architecture in Hong Kong was amazing though - some of the neatest buildings I'd ever seen (such as the Lippo Centre or the Bank of China). They do fun things with architecture that we'd never see here in the US, simply because it wouldn't be cost effective.

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Charlatan

Love the architecture... I really wish developers had the balls to make these sorts of structures in Canada. Our architecture is generally timid (read: boring).

For those who were reading the thread that asked what would it be like if a corporation ran countries... China is the living example of this.

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Gabbyness

Those are pretty badass buildings.

I especially like the airport - that is nuts.

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Mantus

The upside to power and control is that it spawns great works of art. Go psudo-commies!

kylie

it is so right when u go to china you will not realize it is a communist country. as a chinese my self tho i am from hong kong, i can see china has change so much. there only one bad thing is still people not so good in english and that might be the only problem for tourist to go there. china has been well developing since these past 10 years, used to be only houses and now everywhere you can see tall building. i cant wait to actually see those pictures become true building .

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highthief

I wouldn't worry about that. When I go to France I expect to speak French, not English, y'know? Still, I understand a lot of people in China are learning English, Japanese and even Arabic in the western provinces.

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