As China's share of the global limelight grows brighter, it's little surprise that architecture has become one of the country's greatest public relations tools. Signature buildings thrust up all over the place, brash new developments blanket the countryside, and developers' appetites for innovation are hitting extremes. China has always been very much about "face," and with both the Beijing 2008 Olympics and the Shanghai 2010 World Expo on the way, that face is getting a lot of attention. — Published 2007.0919
In the interior design of its own three-story office space in downtown Shanghai, China, completed in April 2006, MoHen Design International emphasizes decorative elements. The reception desk is a glass case lit from the inside, an island of light in a dark space. In the main office and work space, cubicles line two opposite walls. Two long faux-finished tables for collaborative work stretch lengthwise down the middle of the room, flanked by furry, bench-style seats. Task lighting drops from the ceiling. — Published 2007.0314
Two new hotels, one small and one very small, are explorations in the use of light and reflection to transform space — and to create a world unlike anything hotel guests might inhabit day-to-day. — Published 2006.0628
To support the rapid expansion of China Central Television (CCTV), an international design competition was launched in 2002 for a centralized headquarters building in Beijing. Winning the commission was Rem Koolhaas (Office for Metropolitan Architecture, OMA), teamed with engineering firm Arup and the East China Architecture and Design Institute as both architect and engineer of record. Koolhaas imagined a building whose three dimensional form brings CCTV's staff and functions into a "continuous tube." This is part of the story of the engineering challenge. — Editor — Published 2006.0111
The second tower for the International Finance Centre, new headquarters for the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, perches near the narrowest crossing of the beautiful Victoria Harbour and marks a new gateway to the city. The so-called "Two ifc," at Central Waterfront is said to be the world's third-highest building and the safest highrise completed since September 11, 2001. — Published 2004.0421
In the last decade, the world has seen an unprecedented boom in the construction of sports stadiums. Among the new ones is the Guangdong Olympic Stadium in Guangzou, China, which will help host the 2008 Olympic Summer Games. — Published 2002.0501
