As China moves forward, it offers fertile ground for the world’s architectural community. From the pioneering work of I.M. Pei, the stunning CCTV complex of Rem Koolhaas, Paul Andreu’s National Theater, Norman Foster’s Beijing Airport, and Owings & Merrill's Jimnao Tower of Skidmore, China is reinventing its skyline on a vast scale.
This highly readable book charts the history of international architecture in China and places special emphasis on China’s post-1978 reforms. China is now embracing international architecture, whereas a quarter of a century ago, names like Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Walter Gropius were practically unknown.
Charlie Xue is the author of Building a Revolution: Chinese Architecture Since 1980.
In contemporary Chinese architecture there is only one rule: there are no rules.
