Contemporary Architecture in China: Buildings and Projects 2000–2020 (Series #Books)

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In 2025 I went to China twice, once for work and once with my family. I saw Shanghai, Beijing, and other cities for myself. Photos give you a sense of the scale, but it’s still impressive in person. So when I recently leafed through Christian Dubrau’s book, I was curious to see familiar cities at a different time. For instance, the night view of Shanghai across one spread was taken in 2009. The book itself came out in 2010, even though the title says 2000–2020.

What I liked most was the way the scale changes. You’ve just been looking at a whole city, and now you’re working out what one wall is made of or how people actually get into a building. Here are a few spreads worth lingering over.

🔸 The China Pavilion at Expo 2010 in Shanghai On the left are red tiers that widen toward the top. On the right is the same structure in scaffolding. I like being able to look straight from the striking picture to the construction site and see how they put it together. Here’s the pavilion on the Expo site. 🔸 The National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing The dome and its reflection look like a whole egg. From the photo alone I’d have spent a long time guessing where the entrance is. A glass-roofed corridor under the artificial lake leads from the north entrance to the halls. Here’s how the theater is laid out. 🔸 The Ningbo History Museum The people by the wall look tiny in the photo, and the wall makes you want to examine it brick by brick. The builders reused old bricks and roof tiles from demolished buildings. A great move for a history museum. Some of what it preserves is literally in the walls. Here’s the story of the project.

If you like figuring out how things are put together as much as I do, it’s easy to get absorbed in this book. I’d keep a map handy. You start with the Shanghai you’ve seen and suddenly find yourself looking for a teahouse outside Chengdu.

P.S. In Shanghai I came across another beautiful book about how the city was built up.

Tags: #Books #Architecture #China #Travel #Culture