Source: CCTV.com

03-18-2008 09:07

A major exhibition opens at London's Victoria and Albert Museum exploring the recent boom in new design and architecture in China. It is the first in the UK to attempt to communicate the impact of rapid economic development in China's major cities.

A major exhibition opens at London's Victoria and Albert Museum exploring the recent boom in new design and architecture in China. (Photo: CCTV.com)

The exhibition is in three sections - structured something like a journey from the south - along China's east coast - through Shenzhen to Shanghai and Beijing. With each city, commences the exploration of different design fields - graphic design and visual culture in Shenzhen, fashion and lifestyle in Shanghai, and architecture and urban living in Beijing.

Spectacular new headquarters for China Central Television in Beijing (Photo: CCTV.com)

Ole Scheeren, partner at the architecture firm OMA which co-designed the spectacular new headquarters for China Central Television in Beijing, says Asian countries are embracing modern architecture - as their economies expand.

Ole Scheeren, architect, said, "It was indeed a very specific moment in history when suddenly Asia had more skyscrapers built, more skyscrapers than the West. So, a typology that had initially been built in the West had been more successfully adopted, if you like, by Asia as it's own triumphalist sign of modernization."