Still City - China’s Urban Spectacle

China’s urban transformation is a multifaceted phenomenon. Every building tells a story. Art-deco remnants of pre-communist China stand alongside communist-era apartment blocks, while recent iconic and elegant structures symbolize progress. In large cities, there is a push towards the spectacularization of urban transformations, culminating in the iconic architecture of the 2000s aimed at redefining the image and narrative of contemporary China, in response first to global markets and then to the arrival of the 2008 Olympics.