Modu Magazine: A Tale of Urban China

Beautified China: An Architectural Photo Essay

During the last decade, China has experienced a massive building boom of iconic architecture, witnessed by photographer and architect Kris Proovost, a China resident for more than 7 years now. Many ‘starchitects’ like Zaha Hadid regarded China as their design laboratory, and were attracted here to implement their bold projects. During the building boom, almost every Chinese city wanted an iconic landmark made by celebrated architects in the hope it would put their city on the map, thereby bringing more attention and resources. 

A decade later, some of these iconic structures are built, and have delivered the wished-for focus of a city, for example, Beijing’s CCTV headquarters by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren, or the Bird’s Nest/National Stadium by Herzog and de Meuron. Nevertheless, according to Proovost, many of the architects failed to adequately consider the building’s integration in its surrounding context and thus attracted considerable controversy. Now, China’s State Council has said no to architecture that is “oversized, xenocentric, weird” and devoid of cultural tradition, as reported in the New York Times.

Proovost’s  Beautified China” series is deliberately shot to exclude the context and leave the buildings as purified objects. Are they still architecture, or should they rather be seen as oversized products? Through this series of photographs, Proovost raises an interesting question: “Should the fact that architects or visitors are more likely to know the location of a new building by Steven Holl or Zaha Hadid Architects, rather than an ancient temple, be a worry? Does this denote success or superficiality?”

 

  • 2018/06/12

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  • China

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  • Kris Provoost

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The Author

Kris Provoost

Kris Provoost is a Belgian architect who has been living and working in China for over 6 years. Besides criss-crossing the world he has worked for Zaha Hadid Architects, Buro Ole Scheeren and gmp Architekten, contributing to some of the city defining developments. With a strong focus on Asia and its megacities, he observes and compares through photo and video. Besides designing buildings, he creates videos as part of the #donotsettle project, an online video project created by Wahyu Pratomo and Kris Provoost about architecture and the way it is perceived by its users.

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