The architectural market in China is one of the most dynamic in the world: As many as “41 super-tall towers” (in other words high-rises that are over 300 meters tall) are currently being built in the People’s Republic. Yet, private architectural companies are comparatively new to China – only since 1994 has the establishment of private architectural firms been permitted there. As late as the 1990s, architects from abroad seeking a joint venture partner still found themselves having to negotiate with one of the over 10,000 state-run design institutes, such as ECADI (East China Architectural Design & Research Institute Co., Ltd) and SIADR (Shanghai Institute of Architectural Design and Research), each employing more than 1,500 people.

The exhibition “m8 in China” is dedicated to showcasing small, flexible firms: The majority of their members hold degrees from western universities, have done well in competitions, are international networkers, and therefore represent the real testing grounds for contemporary Chinese architecture. Here we explore new trends in modern Chinese architecture – under the aegis of China, host nation of the International Book Fair 2009, which has “Tradition und Innovation” as its theme.

A focus on regional typologies, the specifics of the local context and the rediscovery traditional handicraft techniques are what distinguishes all eight architectural companies that are shown in the exhibition and sets them apart from the concepts developed by state-run design institutes that, having detached themselves from the old Chinese traditions, focus on erecting spectacular gigantic buildings in China’s megacities.

Amateur Architects, Hangzhou (WANG Shu, LU Wenyu)
Atelier Z+, Shanghai (ZHANG Bin, ZHOU Wei)
DnA_Design and Architecture, Beijing (XU Tiantian)
Jiakun Architects, Chengdu, Sichuan (LIU Jiakun)
MADA s.p.a.m., Shanghai (MA Qingyun)
Standardarchitecture, Beijing (ZHANG He, ZHANG Hong, HOU Zhenghua, Claudia TABORDA)
Studio Pei Zhu, Beijing ( ZHU Pei)
TM Studio, Shanghai (TONG Ming)

The exhibition is organized in cooperation with General Administration of Press and Publication of the People’s Republic of China, China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation, and Liaoning Science and Technology Publishing Houses Co. Ltd. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication published by Jovis Verlag in Berlin.
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