Jubilantly 'werid' wonders

Tianzi Hotel in suburban Beijing is shaped like the Chinese gods Fu, Lu and Shou, who respectively represent luck, fortune and longevity. Zhuo Ensen / China Daily

"'Weird' buildings typically cost more to build than 'normal' buildings－h(huán)ence, most countries or cities see an increase in 'weird' buildings built during boom times when there's a lot of investment sloshing around. China is unique in terms of its construction's speed and scale during its boom, which I think has a negative consequence of producing more weird buildings that are less thoughtful."

UK-based SURE Architecture Ltd's global director Kam Fai Tai believes China's construction stands at a crossroads of technology, design software and new materials.

"China is the construction site of the world," he says.

"Many projects in China need to be approved by governors but aren't directly decided by markets and users. New and weird become a shortcut for designers to get the approval or win competitions."

That's among other reasons, Tai believes.

"Chinese people are becoming more open-minded, (and) many international companies take China's market as a site of experimentation for architectural design."

Chinese-architects.com curator Eduard Koegel points out: "Every country produces its own weirdness. Architects are around to solve problems. But sometimes the problems became buildings. And this can result in a problematic building. Especially in fast-growing economies with under-regulated markets, the weirdness of buildings expresses the aspirations of the nouveau riche. Hopefully this will be a problem of a transition period."

But he believes "a real problem" endures behind the phenomenon.

"This relates to the question of identity and how people relate themselves to the buildings' environments," he says.