China Digest #01

China Digest is an irregular update by Bert de Muynck on news relating to the development of Chinese architecture and urbanism.

From November 28 till December 5, the Blue Rock Space (at the China Millenium Monument) will host the exhibition Instant Hutong, a part of the Hutong Vision program organized by Du Liao Studio. Get the scoop in their press release; Focusing on the Beijing Hutong districts as the research object, the main goals of the program are: to show the charm of the culture of Beijing Hutongs and Siheyuans, to post the existent problems in social and physical levels, and offer some attempts at the protection of that culture in this dynamic new age. The program is planned and structured as a multi-step experience.

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Images and text of the design for the Hyatt Regency, by Goettsch Partners, in Chengdu can be seen on the World Architecture News website. The mixed-use development integrates a 12-storey shopping center with a 25-storey Hyatt Regency hotel. Together, they provide 1,200,000 square feet of retail space, 450 guest rooms and supporting hotel amenities. Goettsch Partners seem to do well with the Hyatt Regency as they were during last summer commissioned to design another Hyatt, the Park Hyatt Guangzhou mixed-use tower.

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On November 8, 2007, the big mac of book cities the Beijing Publishing Logistics Center, located in Tongzhou district and an hour and a half drive from central Beijing opened. TBJblog reports on the building designed by the Beijing Institure of Architectural Design Studio and the opening. Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD), established in October 1949 following the founding of the People’s Republic of China , is a large-scale state-owned architectural design and consulting institute.

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Linda Vlassenrood, curator of the 2006 China Contemporary exhibition in the Dutch Architecture Institute, published in the new issue of Mark Magazine a 14 page article on the Beijing and Shenzhen based architecture firm Urbanus. Projects include the Dafen Art Museum, Sungang Central Plaza and Tulou Social Housing. The whole article can be downloaded from the Urbanus-website.

Urbanus Website Article

Urbanus Website

NAI Publishers

Mark Magazine

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Both Der Spiegel and The Sunday Times ran major articles on Beijing’s urban development towards the 2008 Olympics. Der Spiegel does that through a series of photos capturing the Olympic Buildings under construction, while Hugh Pearman reports for The Sunday Times on the Starchitects operating in China’s capital. On CCTV he states the following; Koolhaas does not do polite architecture. He rejoices in the perversely difficult. He is therefore the very opposite of Andreu. This makes CCTV interesting, though I suspect it is more dramatic right now, half built, than it will be when finished. More CCTV-news (ain’t we loving it all?), a certain DutchTom has been stalking the building and posted throughout the last year images of the growth and rise of CCTV on his flickr-page; click here to see some recent pictures.

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In the mean time Chinese artist Cao Fei, and her Second Life alter ego China Tracy, is exploring the architectural and urban potential of Second Life, both in online version as in the preparation for a book publication. She is in the process of creating RMB City, and wants your help. She even has hard hats to make your life easier. Her website inludes the RMB City Manifesto, where one can read that Our world, however, is constructed with “transparency” and “imagination”, does it exist? It may not be. Even if it exists now, it won’t in the future. It could end after our visit, and start over again when we return. Eventually, after numerous fleeing and sneaking in, we will have the experience the whole World.

Alternative Archive Article #1

Alternative Archive Article #2

Alternative Archive Article #3

Help China Tracy create RMB City art installation

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Architectural Record and Businessweek invite you to submit your firm’s work for the 2nd Biannual “Good Design is Good Business” China awards program. Projects completed by January 2004 in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are eligible. Winners will be featured in the China editions of Architectural Record and BusinessWeek. The submission deadline is November 30, 2007. Click here further to either get the pfd for submitting your projects or to see last year’s winners.

Entry Form

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Digest by Bert de Muynck.
Bert de Muynck is an architect, writer and director of movingcities. He lives and works in Beijing, China.

Bert de Muynck is an architect, writer and director of movingcities. He lives and works in Beijing, China. Bert de Muynck|movingcities