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CHINESE LANDSCAPE
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Both the physical and intellectual landscape of China is in transformation. It is a country with a long history and old traditions, modernizing rapidly to adapt to a contemporary world with no history or traditions. In no better way can this change be seen than in the transformation of the country’s urban landscape. The purpose of this project is to document the face of the new China that is being created as a result of this evolution through photographing its contemporary urban landscape.
With the fastest growing economy in the world today, China is sculpting its own future with steel and concrete. As a result of change in the fundamental values of society, the physical landscape has been also been altered accordingly. Construction and destruction is a part of everyday life in the modern Chinese city, as entire cities are literally being rebuilt. The most extreme transformations have occurred in the major cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen. These metropolises are where China is redefining itself to the rest of the world, and where I focused my attention.
Chinese people have always expressed itself with architecture. One need only look at the Forbidden City or the Great Wall to see that its builders wanted to send a message to anyone who encountered those structures. They also reveal China’s view of itself and its relation to the outside world. China is still speaking with its built environment today. Instead of palaces, temples, or fortifications, the structures being built today are skyscrapers, shopping centers, and highways. These are the structures that defines the China of the present and in the future.