AFP/Beijing
Chinese Internet users were divided yesterday after leader Xi Jinping reportedly called for an end to “weird architecture” in a country that has seen a huge construction boom.
Much of China’s older building stock is made up of Soviet-style concrete blocks, but in recent years property development has played a huge economic role.
The phenomenon has drawn architects from around the world, from big names such as Zaha Hadid to younger unknowns who see opportunities to design towers long before their careers could reach such heights in the West.
But some unconventional and costly buildings, often owned by state-controlled institutions, have been controversial, sparking criticisms of wasted public funds.
The futuristic new Beijing headquarters of state broadcaster China Central Television were designed by renowned Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas but popularly nicknamed ‘The Big Underpants’.
There have meanwhile been complaints that a pair of bridges over the Yangtze and Jialing rivers in the southwestern metropolis of Chongqing are remarkably reminiscent of female genitalia.
Xi, who took over as Communist leader nearly two years ago, told a group of artists on Wednesday that China should build “no more weird architecture”, reported the website of the People’s Daily, the ruling party’s mouthpiece.
The newspaper’s own new home - an unmistakably phallic tower - was so widely mocked by Internet users last year that China’s censors blocked the discussions.
Many web users welcomed Xi’s call.
“My understanding is that ‘no weird architecture’ targets the property owners rather than the architects. Some unscrupulous owners should indeed be reined in now,” said one user on China’s Twitter-like Sina Weibo. “China is not a foreigners’ test field,” added another.
Xi is not the first senior figure to express doubts over modern design - Britain’s Prince Charles once described a proposed extension to the National Gallery in London as a “monstrous carbuncle on the face of a much-loved and elegant friend”.
But some Weibo users questioned whether Xi’s comments were appropriate, voicing concerns over their potential impact on creative freedom.
“The ‘weird architecture’ is voluntarily chosen by the owners and the designers,” said one, asking: “Do you want to replace others’ aesthetic sense with your own?”
A man fishes across the canal from the under-construction Circle building in Guangzhou, southern China’s Guangdong province.
