ABSTRACT
That China is producing a large quantity of buildings with an alarming speed is well known in the world, thanks partly to Rem Koolhaas’s characterization of the ‘Chinese Architect’ in the book Great Leap Forward. 1 What is unclear to the outside world, however, is an intentionality developed within China. There is by now a long tradition of modern architecture in China in which ideas and visions are expressed. This history of intentionality is also mutating. Whereas for decades it was a collective expression directed by state authority, there is now a tendency in which one finds individual positions opposing mainstream practice. There is an expanding group of architects in China whose designs involve self-conscious strategies that resist or transcend certain mainstream conventions. This deserves close observation.
