ABSTRACT
This chapter retrospectively examines the three case studies, which are reviewed within the context of three common, deep-seated misconceptions highlighted at the beginning: each case study concludes with a summary addressing the misconception previously proposed. This chapter concludes that Chinese contemporary architecture has manifested the proliferation of modernity in its multiplicity and increasingly defined itself following its own social, historical and political logic. The mix of “Mao” and “market” has created a modern Chinese vernacular in its architecture that has been true both in the sense of complying with the demands of the state and also is deeply rooted in the nature of the capitalist market. This study supports the idea that the innovation and uniqueness of contemporary architectural design is not driven solely by the state, nor by the market, but rests with the struggle between the state and the market. Chinese architects had already started to affect civil justice, and to spread the idea of civil liberties through their professional activities, which reflects a third voice emerging between the state and the market in contemporary Chinese society. Their professional approach might assist in coordinating some of the ideological conflicts emerging from the societal transition.
