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Reading Buildings; the misinterpreted critiques of


contemporary Chinese architecture.

Essay Word Count: 3006 words

ABSTRACT
On October 2014, Chinese president Xi Jinping criticized the construction of weird
buildings in China. Criticisms by the media and the general public are also made against
foreign architects who used China as an experimental playground, disregarding Chinese
culture and needs. Prominent buildings such as the CCTV Headquarter indubitably fall
under the category. Yet, are these buildings really aliens or are they misinterpreted?
The paper will first explore two structuralism linguistic theories: (1) Peter
Eisenmans adaptation of semiotics within architecture and (2) how architecture is
viewed as language by Derrida. This would provide a precedent for the two ways
buildings are perceived by people on a semantic level through its facade, or on rather
than a syntax level through its conceptual subsurface.
Next, the paper will query the relationship between contemporary architecture in
China and its reference towards the countrys tradition and culture. Two case studies
will be analysed: (1) CCTV Headquarters (2012), designed by Office of Metropolitan
Architecture (OMA) and (2) Ningbo Historic Museum (2008). The author draws
reference to their conceptualization process and how their contextual responsiveness,
faade and spatial organisation relate back to Chinese culture and traditions.
Incorporating the way people perceive buildings and their relationship towards Chinese
traditions, the author concludes that despite complexity and relevance towards Chinese
traditions behind the design of the CCTV Headquarters, the semantic relationship of the
building leads to its misinterpretation. On the contrary, Ningbo Historic Museum, due to
its responsiveness to cultural and context, is a well-received contemporary Chinese
building on a semantic level. The author would then explore the direction which
contemporary Chinese architecture should progress to reflect a Chinese zeitgeist,
instead of the westernization of the cities and inevitably losing their culture and
traditions.

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INTRODUCTION

In the past decade, the rapid economic development of the Peoples Republic of China

resulted in the countrys economic and cultural globalisation. The influx of transnational

community increases infrastructures demand. Chinese architects did not have the luxury

of time to develop a style that would define modern Chinese society. 1 Chinese architects

relied on western proven standards, tall glass and steel cladded skyscrapers to suffice

the demands. Western iterations homogenized the Chinese built environment, resulting

in the disappearance of regional and national characteristics. 2 Large-scale prestige

projects, the Olympic Stadium, National Aquatic Centre and the CCTV Headquarters

(CCTVHQ), were also awarded to internationally renowned architects due to their

experience and reputation. Despite their ingenuity, those projects were increasingly

being accused of failing to comprehend Chinese culture and insolently neglecting Chinas

needs. 3

On October 2014, Chinese president Xi Jinping criticized the construction of weird

buildings in China. This is a response of Chinas rejection in being used as an

experimental ground for foreign architects, 4 and an attempt to provide Chinese

architects more opportunities with prestige projects.

Despite numerous criticisms against weird buildings, are they genuinely experiments

irresponsive of the cultural identity of China? Are they misinterpreted by a population

1 Rem Koolhaas, Content. (Ko ln, Germany: Taschen, 2004), 448.


2 Christian Dubrau, Sinotecture : New Architecture in China = Neue Architektur in China [in Text in English
and German.], (Berlin: DOM, 2008), 15.

3 Dubrau, Sinotecture : New Architecture in China, 14.


4 Xing Ruan and Patrick Bingham-Hall, New China Architecture, (Singapore: Periplus, 2006), 58.

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that is unfavourable of globalisation, especially towards Western influence which is

deemed as a threat towards social, cultural and traditions, 5 the Chinese identity.

This paper will discuss the appropriability of contemporary buildings in China and its

responses to the Chinese identity. Two case studies will be discussed: (1) CCTV

Headquarters (CCTVHQ) and (2) Ningbo History Museum (NHM). Both examples

investigate the conceptualization process and how it relates to the identity paradigm

through site context, faade and spatial composition. Two schools of theoretical

concepts pertaining to how architecture is understood as a consequence of linguistic

studies will allow the author to illustrate how a buildings conceptualization is

paramount to its acceptance by the general public. The two theoretical concepts are: (1)

Semiotics, Noam Chomsky and Peter Eisenman and (2) Architecture as a Language,

Jacob Derrida and Ferdinand de Saussure.

NOAM CHOMSKY AND PETER EISENMAN

The linguistic approach adopted by Peter Eisenman, inspired by Noam Chomsky, was

subdivided into three semiotics categories: pragmatics, semantics and syntax. The

primary focus of this paper is about how the surface of the building and its visual

significances influence the interpretation of a building. Pragmatics is thus excluded in

this discussion because it relates form to function, 6 affecting users of the building that

requires prior usage of the space. 7

5 Dubrau, Sinotecture : New Architecture in China, 15.


6 Thomas Patin, From Deep Structure To An Architecture In Suspense: Peter Eisenman, Structuralism,
And Deconstruction, Journal Of Architectural Education 47, no 2. (1993), 91.
7 Geoffrey Broadbent, A Plain Mans Guide to the Theory of Signs in Architecture, Architectural Design 7-
8 (1997), 476

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SEMANTIC AND SYNTAX

Semantic is defined as the signification of signs in all modes of signifying that is, with

the ways in which they actually carry meanings. 8 Syntax was termed by Charles Morris

as the combination of signs without regards of its specific meanings. 9

In relation to architecture, a semantic building would be responsive to its culture,

traditions and surrounding context, drawing forms to meaning and representations, 10 a

posteriori.11 The Grand Hotel, Taipei, shown in figure 1, is a neo-classical Chinese

building that associates itself with the Chinese identity because of its symbolic

references to ancient china. These include the presence of the mythical creature dragon,

and the use of yellow roofs, a symbol for luck, power and wisdom. 12

A syntactic building on the other hand, meant as an autonomous form that allows for a

priori 13 interpretation. It should mediate between the intended meaning and the

possible misinterpretations due to the lack of understanding. 14 House III in figure 2 by

Peter Eisenman was designed with a set of rules governing the generation of the form.

The disassociation of the form from meaning resulted in a building disregarding its

context. The design strategies can only be understood with association to its process,

sketches and diagrams shown in figure 3.

8 Ibid, 476
9 Ibid, 476
10 Peter Eisenman, From Object to Relationship II: Casa Giuliani Frigerio: Giuseppe Terragni Casa Del
Fascio, Perspecta 13/14. (1971), 39
11 In a way based on reasoning from known facts or past events rather than making assumptions or
predictions Oxford Dictionaries, retrieved 19 October 2015.
12 Dubrau, Sinotecture : New Architecture in China, 20.
13 Relating or denoting reasoning or knowledge which proceeds from theoretical deduction rather than
from observation or experience, Oxford Dictionaries, retrieved 19 October 2015.
14 Eisenman, From Object to Relationship II, 39

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Figure 1 The Grand Hotel Taipei (). 15


Sculptural roof forms with dragon figures and the use of vibrant yellow and red
draws relation to Imperial Chinese architecture.

Figure 2 House III by Peter Eisenman (1971). 16 Figure 3 Diagrammatic analysis


and generative process of House III. 17

15Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government. Travel. Taipei, retrieved 20 October
2015.

16 Graham Mackay. Time & Architecture: Part I (NOW and WAS NOW), Misfits Architecture, retrieved 20
October 2015.
17 Al Hougton. Peter Eisenman, Diagrammi del processo compositivo di House III (Casa Miller),

Connecticut, 1969-71, Pinterest.

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SYNTAX SURFACE SYNTAX AND DEEP STRUCTURE

Noam Chomsky further distinguished syntax into surface syntax and deep level syntax

(deep structure). Surface syntax is, in linguistic studies, an aspect of a syntactic

description which determines the phonetic form the physical signal, [whereas] deep

structure is generated by rules which are concerned with underlying relations. 18

Putting it in the context of architecture, surface syntax, would refer to the (visual)

exterior of the building, the elevation that greets its context. Deep structure refers to the

conceptual significance of the building, and can be elevated to form surface syntax by

which the idea is expressed. 19 Deep structure is thus unconcerned about its expression

(how it is looked upon) but with its representation (how it is being understood),

forming a logical framework from which a concept can be derived from.

DERRIDA AND SAUSSURE ARCHITECTURE AS LANGUAGE

Derrida likens the arrangement of faade elements and spatial planning to grammar. A

set of rules governs the decision making process, while being conscious of aesthetical

qualities. He believes that, similar to semantics interpretation, language is most

prominent in architecture when it is being referenced to other pre-existing meanings. 20

Saussure suggested that the language system, similar to syntax, could be interpreted as

two analogous terms: (1) Surface structure being the faade and finishing on the

structure and (2) deep structure as the structure and form of the building. 21 The surface

structure represents the exterior while deep structure signifies the intention and

concept of the building.

18 Eisenman, From Object to Relationship II, 39


19 Broadbent, A Plain Mans Guide, 476
20 Richard Coyne, Derrida For Architects. (Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2011), 10.
21 Ibid, 19

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Despite representing different fields of linguistic studies and interpretation of

architecture, both demonstrated that a building, an object in context and not its space

within, can be understood in two ways. (1) A building, on surface level, relatable to its

physical attributes and contextual influence, semiotics. (2) A building to be understood

through its subsurface, syntactic.

Figure 4 CCTV Headquarters by


Office of Metropolitan Architecture (2004 2012) 22

CASE STUDY - CCTV HEADQUARTERS (2012)

DESIGN CONCEPT

The CCTVHQ started construction in 2004 and was completed in 2012 in Beijing (China).

Architects, Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA), founded by Rem Koolhaas,

conceptualised the building as an attempt to re-invent the skyscraper typology as it has

not been refined, but corrupted. 23 The typical skyscraper, a tall tower standing in

22 Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). CCTV Headquarters, retrieved 20 October 2015.


23 Koolhaas, Content, 473

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isolation of its context, restricts communications with its surrounding entities. In China,

where money does not have the last word (yet), 24 OMA designed for a building which

combines the entire process of TV-making into an interdependent operation instead of

one which functions are placed based on its financial implications. The design was

conceptualised through thorough understanding of the TV production sequence. This

results in a twisted loop with two vertical towersone dedicated for broadcasting, the

other for services, research and productions.

HIERARCHY THE CANTILEVER AND THE PUBLIC REALM

The two vertical towers, which are part of the entire process, join at the top and bottom

to complete the twisted loop. The top is a cantilevered space for the management and

administration of CCTV. Hierarchy is unavoidable in any high-rise structure, but the

adaptation of a loop system allows the organisation to be recognised as part of an

interconnected process. Executives of the corporation, located in the cantilever, are

constantly being visually reminded of the lower layers they are supported by and

dependent on. The bottom consists of a common production platform that is partly

underground. It consists of filming studios and visitor spaces, which are physically

separated from the dedicated vertical structures. Figure 5 illustrates the CCTVHQ

elevator systems and the public circulation loop. It is evident that each section of the

loop comprises of independent vertical circulation systems. The deliberate program and

circulation of a visitors loop indicates the buildings emphasis on not only corporation

hierarchy but also privacy. The interdependency of the organisation thus occurs within

the building, excluding its immediate surrounding. This self-isolated hierarchy system is

a reminder of the traditional Chinese houses, Sihe Yuan.

24 Koolhaas, Content, 486

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Figure 5 Diagrammatic analysis of CCTV Headquarters


vertical lift cores and visitor circulation. 25

SIHE YUAN

The Sihe Yuan is a traditional house in Beijing. It comprises of multiple housing units

surrounding an enclosed courtyard. It ensures separation of the family spaces with

public spaces and represents a well-organised family hierarchy. Figure 6 shows the

typical layout of a Sihe Yuan. The main room, usually for the house owner, is located at

the back, furthest from the entrance. The east and west rooms are for the sons, while the

backrooms are for the daughters as it is harder to enter and exit the house. The reversed

rooms, which face the public street, are the lowest in hierarchy and are usually occupied

by servants or guests. 26

The comparison between the CCTVHQ and Sihe Yuan draws similarities to the

organisations of spaces. Despite contrasting building typology, CCTVHQ being a high-

25 Shibata, CCTV by OMA: Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren, A+U, Tokyo, 2005.
26 Peter G. Rowe and Seng Kuan, Architectural Encounters With Essence And Form In Modern China.
(London, England: The MIT Press, 2002), 25.

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rise while the Sihe Yuan extends horizontally, the spaces were allocated based on pre-

perceived requirements in hierarchy, security and access frequency as shown in figure

7. The looping of the CCTVHQ and Sihe Yuan both allows for privacy while promoting

solidarity and collaborations within the entity, which is representative of the imperial

Chinese political system. 27

Figure 6 Typical Layout of Sihe Yuan


Traditional Chinese houses in Beijing, China 28

Figure 7 Hierarchy and privacy within Sihe Yuan and CCTV Headquarter
Figure illustrated by author

27 Koolhaas, Content, 490


28 HRC Worldwide Hotel & Travel Service. Siheyuan Culture, China Tour Guide, retrieved 20 October
2015.

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SITE CONTEXT

The city layout of Beijing, particularly around CCTVHQ, is characterized by regular grid

streets based of the Sihe Yuan. The grid system reflects the ideology of imperial Chinese

political system, which revolves around clusters of defined family units. 29 Figure 8

shows the first floor plan of the CCTVHQ, demonstrating the building respects the

existing gridded layout, with its rectangular ground floor plate. The conceptualization of

the CCTVHQ was however relating to a greater concept, an attempt to put forth the

Beijing Manifesto. The manifesto attempts to preserve underlying rules and compete

for a low rise CBD for Beijing. OMA believes that preservation should not only be about

preserving traditional structures. It should also push for reinterpretation of existing

social patterns and anthropological structures. 30 Figure 9 shows the CCTVHQ as part of

the manifesto, which was conceived as a modern interpretation of the traditional Sihe

Yuan and how it could work in a contemporary CBD. While the manifesto is pushing for

the development of the region, the intention of high-rise building with central

courtyards is evidently an adaptation of the traditional Sihe Yuan, which is unique to

Beijing.

FAADE

The faade of the building, which is also the primary load bearing structure, reflects the

underlying relationship between the floor plates and its structural loads. Surfaces with

the greatest stress load consist of more structural reinforcements while redundant

structures were removed. This results in a building where its performance is

29 Ibid, 456
30 Koolhaas, Content, 479

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demonstrated on the surface. That surface provides informed (design concepts of the

building) audience clarity of the relation within the building.

The author is not taking a critical stance towards the potential of the strategies. Instead,

the author would like to highlight the observation that the CCTVHQ was conceptualized

fundamentally on strategies influenced by Chinese traditions.

Figure 8 Ground Floor plan of CCTV Headquarter


illustrating the akin rectangular floor plan
Edited by author. 31

31Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). CCTV Headquarters, ArchDaily, retrieved 20 October


2015.

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Figure 9 Beijing Manifesto by OMA


The adaptation of regional Sihe Yuan typology
into contemporary high-rise architecture. 32

32 Koolhaas, Content, 477.

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Figure 10 Ningbo History Museum by


Amateur Architecture Studio (2008). 33

CASE STUDY - NINGBO HISTORY MUSEUM (2008)

Ningbo History Museum (HNM), designed by Amateur Architecture Studio, was

completed in 2008, Ningbo, Zhejiang (China). Wang Shu, architect in charge, winner of

the Pritzker Architecture Prize in 2012, conceptualised the museum as a remembrance

of its region contextual past, which has become a hyper-urbanized context, devoid of

history.34 Rapid development in China resulted in the demolition of traditional villages

and rural suburbs, making way for rapid urbanisation. This resulted in hyper-urbanized

places in China becoming no memory area, without culture or traditions. 35 The design

of the museum took inspiration from the mountains, resulting in its towering mass. The

barren surroundings of the museum site, for convenience of development and

construction, further monumentalized the building.

33 Wang Shu. Ningbo Historic Museum, ArchDaily.


34 Grace Ong Yan, The Infinite Spontaneity of Tradition, The Pritzker Architecture Prize, 2012.
http://www.pritzkerprize.com/2012/essay. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
35 Bredan Mcgetrick, Ningbo History Museum, Domus 922. (2009). http://www.domusweb.it/en/from-
the-archive/2012/03/03/ningbo-history-museum.html. Retrieved 16 October 2015.

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THE FAADE WA PIAN QIANG (clay-tile wall)

The faade of NHM was constructed using vernacular regional Chinese technique known

as wa pian qiang. Wa pian qiang is a construction technique adopted by people living in

Cicheng town, Zhejiang Province. 36 It involves recycling broken roof tiles and bricks

from houses that collapsed due to typhoons, allowing them to be reconstructed

relatively quickly in an area with limited resources. 37 This technique was modified and

adopted by Wang Shu for NHM because he wanted the museum to recapture memories

of the 30 villages that were demolished in the region to make way for Ningbos new

CBD.38 The combination of recycled tiles, brick and stone is fixed to exterior walls using

cement. They provide a rich tactile surface with colours that reflects the natural

environment where the materials were primarily gathered from. The adaptation of the

wa pian qiang technique also ensured that traditional craft skills will not be lost to

Chinas rapid urbanization, a way of preserving time. 39

THE INTERIOR WALLS ZHU TIAN MO BAN HUN NI TU

The interior of the building comprises of three valley, four caves four sunken

courtyards, a body of water and mountainous topography. 40 Unlike the faade, the

interior of the building adopts an abstract approach towards the interpretation of its

conceptual ideology. Yet, evident in the interior is the adaptation of traditional

construction methods. Interior concrete walls adopt the zhu tiao mo ban hun ni tu

36 Chua Hing-wah, The Aesthetic of Reuse: The Materiality and Vernacular Traditions of Wang Shus
Architecture, Unmaking Waste 2015 Conference, Key note, session 12. (2015), 359
37 Ibid, 359
38 Edward Denison and Guang Yu Ren, 'The Reluctant Architect: An Interview With Wang Shu Of Amateur
Architects Studio'. Architectural Design 82 (6). (2012), 125.
39 Ibid, 124
40 Yan, The Infinite Spontaneity of Tradition.

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technique. Bamboo canes are pressed onto the surface of concrete modules to create

impressions. This technique dismisses the perception of concrete, a relatively modern

construction material, as a hard and cold material. Bamboo, which is native to Ningbo,

serves to remind and inform visitors of the regional vernacular materials that have been

replaced 41 whilst providing the sense of space.

SEMANTIC & SYNTAX - THE INTERPRETATION OF BUILDLINGS

Both buildings, conceptually, are relatable to Chinese traditions, yet the reaction that

both amass from the general public hugely contrasts. This, the author concurs, is based

on how buildings are being understood.

NINGBO HISTORY MUSEUM, THE SEMANTIC RELATIONSHIP

The audience, in this case general public, relates to a building through its surface or

perceptual aspect, the sematic relation to pre-existing culture, memories and material.

NHM was conceptualized around these sematic a priori. The use of recycled materials

and the adaptation of new construction with regional influence (i.e. bamboo) were

techniques that are familiar to the audience, as villagers who were relocated into

urbanized living quarters for the development of the CBD. The ability to relate to the

materials and tactile quality on the surfaces of NHM provides them with opportunities to

reminiscence lost memories. The approach is so successful that after the completion of

the museum, local residents visited the museum repeatedly simply to find lost

memories. 42 Sematic relation to a building is not only about what the audience relates

the building to but also what the building presents itself as. Ironically, despite the form

of NHM being conceptualized as a mountain, it provides no clear representation of a

41 Denison and Guang, The Reluctant Architect, 125.


42 Denison and Guang, The Reluctant Architect, 126.

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mountain. The understanding and acceptance of the NHM is not based on the perceived

whole exterior but on the small crucial signifiers such as colours or texture, which

relates on an intimate scale.

In contrary, the interior of NHM is a syntax conceptualization. It was conceived as a

series of elements found within mountainous Chinese landscape. It revolves around the

rules by which those elements organizes in nature and are reinterpreted through

contemporary construction methods. Valleys are low area between hills, and are

interpreted as spaces between high walls as shown in figure 11. Caves, the end of a path

or a dwell-able space, are represented as an auditorium or exhibition spaces.

Figure 11 Similarities between the profiles of a


valley and the interior spaces of Ningbo Historic Museum.
Interior walls demonstrating the zhu tiao mo ban hun ni tu technique.
Edited by author. 43

43 Bredan Mcgetrick, Ningbo History Museum. Retrieved 20 October 2015

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CCTV HEADQUARTERS, THE SYNTAX RELATIONSHIP

The exterior of the CCTVHQ, unlike NHM, portrays a syntax relationship. It corresponds

to the underlying structural performance of the building. The conceptualization,

hierarchy and the twisted loop allows the structural faade to be interpreted as having a

co-relation to the underlying rules. The rules (hierarchy within a society) denote that

the supporting members are to be beneath, metaphorically holding up the executives.

This relationship is evident from the building exterior. Firstly, the cantilever

demonstrates its dependency on the two vertical towers as an anchor point preventing

the weighty structure from tipping over. 44 Secondly, the interior of the towers surfaces,

which houses majority of the production loop, consists of the highest amount of

structural reinforcement. However, those without prior knowledge of the design

concept often overlook this relation of hierarchy and interdependency 45. To the greater

audience, it is merely just an innovation for structural complexity.

The publics interpretation of the building is based on the sematic relations that the

audience relates upon. CCTVHQ is therefore being dubbed big pants 46 due to its

resemblance to pants, as shown in figure 12. Another cause for rejection is the sematic

relationship drawn towards steel-glass facades being a foreign intervention. 47 Typical of

most western influenced buildings being erected all around China, there is still a

yearning towards traditional Chinese stylistic. Despite some being superficial, the

adaptation of signs, it portrays the sentiment of responding to their culture on a sematic

level.

44 William B. Millard in Rem Koolhaas, Content. (Ko ln, Germany: Taschen, 2004), 490.
45 Ruan and Hall, New China Architecture, 58.
46 Megan Willett, Chinas President Xi Jinping: No More Weird Architecture, Business Insider
Australia, (2014). http://www.businessinsider.com.au/xi-jinping-hates-weird-architecture-2014-
10. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
47 Dubrau, Sinotecture : New Architecture in China, 20.

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Figure 12 CCTVHQ as a big pants


Figure illustrated by author.
CONCLUSION

Buildings are understood by the general public on a semantic level. The CCTVHQ being

misinterpreted by the general public as an alienated proposal 48 is of nobodys fault.

OMA attempted to establish a new identity for contemporary China. They rejected the

traditional model of skyscrapers and conceptualized one that draws influence from

hierarchy, which existed within the Chinese social fabric. The general public of China

however prefers a building that exhibits physical references to their cultural and

regional traditions, similar to the NHM. A building for the public should be readable,

understandable and relatable.

This inclination for a visually engaging archetype meant that architecture in China needs

time 49, which could inevitably impede the rate of globalisation. Is China ready to

compromise economic for cultural growth or the development of a style?

48 Koolhaas, Content, 487


49 Kayoko Ota in Rem Koolhaas, Content. (Ko ln, Germany: Taschen, 2004), 490.

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THE CHINESE STYLE

Chinas vast terrain and varying topography complicates the formulation of a Chinese

style. Regions have varied climatic conditions, which affects the vernacular strategies

adopted. The construction method used for NHM is relevant to Ningbo. If it was adopted

in other region, it loses its significance. Should China have a singular Chinese style, it

would be similar to the homogenizing of the western styles. Chinese cities will lose its

regional characteristics. Yet, to device regional specific styles would require time and

will complicate the administration of codes and regulations.

The author believes that there is a need for contemporary high-rise to reflect the

Chinese zeitgeist 50, similar to how regional traditional buildings are doing so. The

attempt to cushion the effect of western influence is of upmost priority. Western proven

standards should only be used as a guide for developing contemporary Chinese

buildings. It will be intriguing then to see if China will opt for regional vernacular

identity or a unified Chinese style. Regardless, a semantic rather than a syntax design

approach should be adopted to prevent the construction of more weird buildings.

50 The defining spirit or mood of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the
time, Oxford Dictionaries, retrieved 19 October 2015.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Broadbent, Geoffrey. A Plain Mans Guide to the Theory of Signs in Architecture,


Architectural Design 7-8 (1997): 474 482.

Chua, Hing-wah. The Aesthetic of Reuse: The Materiality and Vernacular Traditions of
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Structuralism, And Deconstruction'. Journal Of Architectural Education 47 (2). (1993):
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2006.

Willett, Megan. Chinas President Xi Jinping: No More Weird Architecture, Business


Insider Australia, (2014). http://www.businessinsider.com.au/xi-jinping-hates-
weird-architecture-2014-10. Retrieved 14 October 2015.

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LIST OF FIGURES/ ILLUSTRATIONS

Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei City Government. Travel. Taipei.


http://www.travel.taipei/frontsite/en/cms/cmsAction.do?method=goCMSDetail&me
nuId=1030509&contentId=5186. Retrieved 20 October 2015.

Hougton, Al. Peter Eisenman, Diagrammi del processo compositivo di House III (Casa
Miller), Connecticut, 1969-71, Pinterest.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/539728336571318695/. Retrieved 20 October 2015

HRC Worldwide Hotel & Travel Service. Siheyuan Culture, China Tour Guide.
http://www.chinatourguide.com/beijing/Siheyuan_Culture.html.
Retrieved 20 October 2015

Mackay, Graham. Time & Architecture: Part I (NOW and WAS NOW), Misfits
Architecture, posted 16 July 2012. http://misfitsarchitecture.com/2012/07/16/time-
architecture-part-i/. Retrieved 20 October 2015

Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). CCTV Headquarters, ArchDaily.


http://www.archdaily.com/236175/cctv-headquarters-oma.
Retrieved 20 October 2015

Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA). CCTV Headquarters.


http://oma.eu/projects/cctv-headquarters. Retrieved 20 October 2015.

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