A show of modernity

"New China Architecture" chronicles the country's flight to modernity, offering a lowdown on the spectacle of the recent architectural boom.

China's emerging new architecture is nothing if not stunning and idiosyncratic. With its steadily growing wealth, and the fact that the summer Olympics are just around the corner, China is sending out a new message to the world through, what many observers call, "gigantic architectural sculptures", all of which draw an immediate response.

Xing Ruan's new book "New China Architecture" shows that his is the most professional one of all.

A professor of architecture at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Ruan has kept a close watch on the emergence of new architecture in China's mega-cities including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Most of the new buildings in these cities are designed by celebrity architects from overseas and Ruan reckons they are turning his country into the world's architectural laboratory.

"New China Architecture" chronicles the country's flight to modernity, offering a lowdown on the spectacle of the recent architectural boom. While winning the West's attention, this wave is gradually wiping out the country's heritage. That's a worrying trend, says the author.

"I want to use my personal experience to look at not just the buildings, but the circumstances in which these buildings are built," says Ruan, who grew up in China during the second half of the 20th century and left for Australia in the 1990s.

At the heart of the book are a range of mega-urban projects designed by renowned foreign architects. These include the Beijing International Airport by Norman Foster, the Shanghai Pudong International Airport and the National Grand Theatre by Paul Andreu, the CCTV headquarters by Rem Koolhaas, the "Watercube" National Swimming Centre by PTW Architects and Jianwai SOHO by Riken Yamamoto.

These mega-high-rises - most rise more than 18 storeys - are meant to make a statement. They share one common feature: "They are designed by foreign architects," he says.

These frenzied efforts mark an interesting time in Chinese history, which Ruan calls "an ecstasy of glorification", more or less in sync with Chairman Mao's much-flaunted rhetoric of "letting a hundred flowers blossom". The period also reflects the Chinese government's interest in loosening things up - a welcome change after a long period of economic and cultural stagnation.

The West's present interest in Chinese architecture, quite unlike the way it was in the last century, is somewhat sudden and commands a discussion, says Ruan. In the Westerner's eyes, 20th-century Chinese architecture did not copy the modern architecture of Europe and North America and seemed eclectic in style. It was, at best, "refined kitsch" rather than modern (which is associated with austerity). But things changed toward the end of the 20th century when the government loosened ideological shackles and an invasion of Western culture followed.

"Architecture and the arts are considered a safe area because their messages are not explicit. So, celebrity foreign architects could come to China, have some sort of a 'beauty contest' while the actual agenda was not so much about better architecture or improvement of life in urban areas," he says.

While no different from that of the West, new Chinese architecture looks characteristically figurative. Paul Andreu's National Grand Theatre in Beijing has a large, bubble heaven hovering above the theatre, a depiction of the Chinese cosmos. Perhaps the most glamorous project, Beijing's Olympic National Stadium by Herzog and de Meuron, resembles a gigantic bird's nest.

"The only task in that beauty contest is to create something terribly idiosyncratic. In these cities, they have a kind of gigantic sculpture garden. Buildings become isolated objects, but a lot of things have been neglected like whether or not the buildings are friendly to pedestrians, or offer some sort of comfort for their inhabitants. If you look at these buildings, they are like animals in a zoo," he says, grinning.

Ruan believes the irony of China's new architecture reveals something about its inconstant mentality. 

These architectural symbols reflect the eagerness of the Chinese government to please the West, especially with the Olympics just around the corner. "This has gone too far. What's the big deal if the French president decides not to join the Olympics opening ceremony?"

The government, says Ruan, is sending out a special message to the world: "Here we go, we are now equal citizens, we should own our right of speech and we have achieved that. Look at our cities, our buildings."  However, says Ruan, "I wonder if that's the right way of saying things".

This mentality could be rooted in the Chinese sense of the cosmos. Far from regarding themselves as an ethnic group, the Chinese believe they are a civilised people of the Middle Kingdom. With that attitude, whatever lies at the centre of the overarching ideas - such as modernity, symbolised by the globe of the National Grand Theatre - is regarded as belonging to the Chinese too.

"The Chinese will say that's also ours. As a result, they are absolutely brutal to their own culture. To achieve sophistication they see in the West, they can easily erase their own heritage. They are totally non-sentimental," he says.

Unlike countries such as Thailand, where cultural consistency is very strong, he says, in China, people tend to think: "what's the big deal? Let's just demolish it."

"New China Architecture" is published by Periplus Publishing and is available at leading bookshops.