New Chinese Architecture Twenty Women Building the Future

Austin Williams, Zhang Xin

The first survey of China’s leading female architects, this book features twenty established and emerging talents addressing the ever-evolving challenges and opportunities of designing in the most populous country on Earth.

Over the past decade, China’s new generation of female architects have proven themselves to be talented, confident, innovative, and successful on the world stage. Engaging with traditions and international trends, as well as posing entirely new architectural ideas, their projects reveal China to be a place full of creative possibility.

This book explores the work of twenty leading female architects living and working in China today. Together they represent a mix of creative talents who are having a significant influence on the national scene. Featuring detailed profiles of each architect, this book showcases over fifty of their key projects across China, from small- to large-scale, residential to commercial, and urban to rural developments, many never before published. With a foreword by business magnate Zhang Xin, one of China’s most celebrated female entrepreneurs, New Chinese Architecture offers unique insights into how architects are adapting and responding to the rapidly evolving social and political changes impacting life in the most populous country on Earth.

Contributors

Austin Williams

Author

Austin Williams is a senior lecturer in professional practice at the Kingston School of Art, London and an honorary research fellow at XJTLU in China. He is the director of the Future Cities Project, and the China correspondent for the Architectural Review.

Zhang Xin

Foreword By

Zhang Xin is a cofounder and the CEO of SOHO China. She has worked with many of the world’s leading architects from around the world, including Zaha Hadid. In 2014, Forbes named her one of the most powerful women in the world.