Collection by Luke Hopping
Modern Architecture Across China
Though its stratospheric skylines are iconic, the true extent of China's modernist movement is shrouded in mystery to many outsiders. Here, we've selected a few of the nation's most impressive homes and buildings.
The interior consists of five different levels, all linked by a steel-and-wood staircase. Carbone sourced the chandelier from a local shop.
The Pinch, a library and community center in Shuanghe Village, Yunnan Province, China, is notable for a series of trusses that drop down from the ceiling to double as a set of suspended bookshelves.
Triple-glazed windows dot the dome’s shell, blurring the distinction between a window and a skylight as they rise. They illuminate a custom-made marble dining table that is encircled by Timothy Oulton Crossfire chairs upholstered in the brand’s Baa Baa sheep’s wool.
British architect Norman Foster sited the banking hall on the HSBC building’s first level, rather than the customary ground floor, to create an open-air plaza at street level. Architecture aficionados can explore the structure freely. As is the case in most
of Hong Kong’s major buildings, access is largely unrestricted.
When Ma designed a house for his father outside their home city of Xián, it became a learning experience. Working with the local employment cycle, it took 11 years to build.
The CCTV building, the headquarters of China Central Television designed by OMA, in earthquake-prone Beijing. Photo by Iwan Baan.