October 1st is China's National Day, a celebration of nation and people that marks the Cultural Revolution that took place 65 years ago today. This year, architecture and the socio-urban environment are mixing the holiday's festivities with controversy, as the conversation about the country's evolving brand of state-centered communism ignites protests about self-rule in the streets of Hong Kong. Such a confluence makes today an ideal moment to reflect on how the government of the People's Republic of China have curated, collected, and controlled architecture to communicate a distinct political dogma. Image via CNN Since the development of the Chinese Nationalist architectural style, which resulted in an influx of government-sponsored buildings, the nation’s architecture has followed a mix of modern communist design and traditional Chinese building motifs. To mark the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the 1959 "Great Leap Forward" was an early urbanism and architecture initiative, with designs by the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, the Beijing Planning Bureau, and China’s Ministry of Construction. Three basic styles were incorporated, taking inspiration from traditional Chinese design, Socialist Realism, and the International Style brand of modernism. We start our survey with ...
October 1st is China's National Day, a celebration of nation and people that marks the Cultural Revolution that took place 65 years ago today. This year, architecture and the socio-urban environment are mixing the holiday's festivities with controversy, as the conversation about the country's evolving brand of state-centered communism ignites protests about self-rule in the streets of Hong Kong. Such a confluence makes today an ideal moment to reflect on how the government of the People's Republic of China have curated, collected, and controlled architecture to communicate a distinct political dogma. Image via CNN Since the development of the Chinese Nationalist architectural style, which resulted in an influx of government-sponsored buildings, the nation’s architecture has followed a mix of modern communist design and traditional Chinese building motifs. To mark the tenth anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the 1959 "Great Leap Forward" was an early urbanism and architecture initiative, with designs by the Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, the Beijing Planning Bureau, and China’s Ministry of Construction. Three basic styles were incorporated, taking inspiration from traditional Chinese design, Socialist Realism, and the International Style brand of modernism. We start our survey with ...