Last week, the Chinese head of state voiced his distaste for Beijing's unusual contemporary architecture. OMA's design for the CCTV headquarters was directly implicated in the president's remarks.Courtesy Jim Gourley via flickr

Chinese president Xi Jinping’s remarks about “no more weird architecture” have been all over the web in recent days and it seems everyone building in China has taken note.

Xi’s brief comments on the state of contemporary architecture in China were part of a two-hour speech at a literary symposium in Beijing. According the state-run Xinhua News Agency (which has since deleted the comments), and as translated by the Wall Street Journal, Xi was referring specifically to CCTV headquarters, designed by OMA. Using the building, known locally as “Big Pants,” as an example, the president voiced his criticisms of architecture he considersqiqiguaiguai, roughly translated as “strange” or “weird,” and suggested that such buildings are “unlikely” to be built again in Beijing.

“It’s clear he is calling for substance over ‘ivory towers,’” says Alex Yong, vice president and China general manager for Venice, California-based, Jerde Partnership. “This makes sense given that China is seeing the limits of its growth,” he adds.

It also makes sense in the current political climate of clamping down on corruption associated with China’s development-fueled boom and recent moves to shift the economy toward a cooled-down, consumer-based model, one less driven by the engine of real estate. Xi might be singling out CCTV as an example of the type of pricey overindulgence he doesn’t want to see perpetuated on his watch.....Continue Reading

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