With the 2008 Olympic Games approaching, the Beijing government, naturally, wants to project their best image as not only will hordes of representatives of every country flock to the city in 2008 but television stations worldwide will focus on it before, during and after the month of the games.
So every amenity is now being upgraded. New buildings to house the various sporting activities, to entertain and overawe the world, rolled off the world’s most famous architectural drawing boards with monotonous regularity and many architects and design firms were falling over each other to present ever more startling designs.
It has come to pass that most of the buildings that have been approved or are in the building phase would be a picture perfect fit in Boston or Berlin.
But is it so highly desirable that Beijing, the crown-jewel of 5,000 years of continuous Chinese civilization, must look the same as any other modern city?
