Skyscrapers top out nearly every day in cities across China, making it increasingly difficult for architects to distinguish themselves on the skyline. Some aspiring types believe the antidote is in ever more bizarre designs. The contours of Beijing's new HQ for the People's Daily newspaper, for instance, are alarmingly priapic; officials in Fushun commissioned a giant steel ring that appears to have no interior square footage at all.
See China's latest wave of development
Still, the past several months have brought their share of sensible, groundbreaking designs - from skilled practices both domestic and international. Not that they're less ambitious; some of these projects are astonishing to imagine and would likely be unfeasible anywhere else on earth but in China's vast and rapidly developing territory. And yet here they are as completed or near-completed works.
Seen together, they capture an image of a China on the move, not just economically, but culturally. Theatres, art museums and tourist hubs beckon for a population that, only a decade ago, had barely travelled for leisure. They're also putting regional China on the map for the rest of the world. That can only lead to a better understanding of this enigmatic country, its people and the forces behind its speedy transformation.
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Doc’n Roll Festival returns with a new season of underground music filmsNow in its twelfth year, the grassroots festival continues to platform subcultural stories and independent filmmakers outside the mainstream
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Commune Design’s new rug collection is a psychedelic tripThe Los Angeles-based company worked with Christopher Farr on its groovy rug collection inspired by 1960s and 1970s Northern California
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The Hart Marylebone marks the next chapter in London’s design-led pubsThe trio behind The Pelican and The Hero turn to Marylebone, fusing Victoriana, intimacy and culinary honesty in their most ambitious project yet
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Honouring visionary landscape architect Kongjian Yu (1963-2025)Kongjian Yu, the renowned landscape architect and founder of Turenscape, has died; we honour the multi-award-winning creative’s life and work
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A new AI data centre in Beijing is designed to evolve and adapt, just like the technology withinSpecialised data centre Spark 761, designed by llLab, is conceived as a physical space where humans and AI technology can coexist
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Shanghai’s biennial, RAMa 2025, takes architectural exploration outsideRAMa 2025, the architecture biennial at Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai, launches, taking visitors on a journey through a historic city neighbourhood – and what it needs
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Atelier About Architecture’s ‘house within a house, and garden within a garden’House J in Beijing, by Atelier About Architecture, is an intricate remodelling complete with a hidden indoor garden and surprising sight lines
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A nature-inspired Chinese art centre cuts a crisp figure in a Guiyang parkA new Chinese art centre by Atelier Xi in the country's Guizhou Province is designed to bring together nature, art and community
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Zaha Hadid Architects’ spaceship-like Shenzhen Science and Technology Museum is now openLast week, ZHA announced the opening of its latest project: a museum in Shenzhen, China, dedicated to the power of technological advancements. It was only fitting, therefore, that the building design should embrace innovation
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A Xingfa cement factory’s reimagining breathes new life into an abandoned industrial siteWe tour the Xingfa cement factory in China, where a redesign by landscape architecture firm SWA completely transforms an old industrial site into a lush park
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Bold, geometric minimalism rules at Toteme’s new store by Herzog & de Meuron in ChinaToteme launches a bold, monochromatic new store in Beijing – the brand’s first in China – created by Swiss architecture masters Herzog & de Meuron
