Great Leap Forward: Contemporary Architecture in China The past five years have seen a revolution in Chinese architecture?the emergence of independent designers, and a number of new stars?and above all new and interesting buildings that are not the product of direct Western influence. These developments have laid the groundwork for an indigenous modernity that differentiates itself from outside schools as well as eschewing the temptation to put a ""Chinese-style"" roof on ordinary office blocks. The fact that Beijing has been chosen to host the 2008 Summer Olympic Games has been more than a catalyst for the development of high-quality contemporary architecture in China. Major foreign firms like OMA/Rem Koolhaas or Herzog & de Meuron are participating in the design of buildings that will have functions during the Games, but Chinese architects, too, have been mobilized in this massive effort to prepare the country for an unprecedented level of world-wide attention. Architects feature

About the Author

Philip Jodidio, born in New Jersey in 1954 graduated from Harvard where he studied the history of art and economics. He was the Editor in Chief of the widest circulation French art magazine Connaissance des Arts from 1980 to 2002. He is the author of more than 150 books, mainly about contemporary architecture. He has published monographs on Richard Meier, Norman Foster, Santiago Calatrava, Alvaro Siza, Zaha Hadid, Renzo Piano, Tadao Ando, Jean Nouvel and Shigeru Ban. He has also worked with the Aga Khan Trust for Culture on books concerning the heritage of the Muslim world.

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