April 19, 2021
South China Morning Post
The Chinese government on Tuesday (April 13) issued a ban on “ugly architecture ”, nearly seven years after President Xi Jinping famously criticised the “weird” buildings popping up across China in recent decades.
As China has experienced rapid urbanisation over the past 40 years, numerous projects turned out to be eyesores – from the “giant trousers” structure of the China Central Television headquarters in Beijing to the half-Temple of Heaven, half-US Capitol building in nearby Hebei province.
The National Development and Reform Commission, China’s top economic planner, issued a directive earlier this week that said “the construction of ugly architecture should be strictly banned”.