On the Edge

The People's Republic of China is currently the largest market for architectural services in the world, and its cities-sites of the greatest economic migration in modern history-are rapidly being transformed into rival centers for global trade and commerce. To date, American, Japanese and Western European architects have been the most visible agents in China's physical transformation-and have consequently been well represented in English-language publications. Architects hailing from within China itself have received relatively little attention in the West, and with these practices' growing influence on the ground and in contemporary design discourse, a volume on their significant achievements thus far is long overdue. In documenting the work of ten young design firms based in Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, this book aims to convey, to the broadest audience possible, the rise of a new aesthetic, the evolution of contemporary architectural practice-and the irresistible, global aspirations of an emerging avant-garde.
Included in the book are completed buildings, proposed projects and urban masterplans by Gary Chang of Edge HK, Rocco Yim, Zi and Ming Zhang of Original Design Studio, Li Hu of Open Architecture Studio, Ai We Wei, Qingyun Ma of MADA, Jiakun Liu, and Yungho Chang-who is the present dean of the Architecture School at MIT. Each project within the project portfolio will have an average of 6-8 pages, with two pages dedicated to detailed plans, sections and elevations.