China’s top leaders have decided to crack down on what they clearly consider to be architectural atrocities, publishing a new set of urban planning guidelines that forbid the construction of “oversized, xenocentric, weird” buildings.
One such example could be the Guangzhou Circle, which looks like a giant tape reel.
Instead, future structures should be “economical, functional, aesthetically pleasing” and “environmentally friendly,” according to reports on the directive issued by the State Council, which is China’s equivalent of a cabinet.
Chinese cities “will no longer be allowed to grow beyond what their natural resources can support” and construction techniques should “generate less waste and user fewer resources,” the official English-language China Daily said, citing the document.
No more gated communities will be allowed, either, and those that already exist will be opened to public traffic and pedestrians.
Some architects actually welcomed the new restrictions.
"Architects can be creative with constraints, we've shown that with our work," James Shen, co-founder of People’s Architecture Office in Beijing, told CNN.
"It's not having enough constraints that creates problems and I think that's what's happened in China. Endless building production has happened with little social responsibility."
The directive follows the Central Urban Work Conference in December.
Incredibly, that was the first high-level meeting to discuss the challenges of China’s rapidly urbanizing population since 1978, when less than one-fifth of the population lived in towns or cities, China Daily said.
credit: globapost
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