CONTENTS Credits for texts ix Illustration credits xi Acknowledgements xv Introduction 1 MODERN CHINESE ARCHITECTURE A social, historical and formal analysis Form 2 PERSPECTIVE AS SYMBOLIC FORM Beijing, 1729-35 11 For the Nation 3 THE ARCHITECT AND A NATIONALIST PROJECT Nanjing, 1925-37 41 4 A SPATIAL REVOLUTION Beijing, 1949-59 75 Transition 5 THE 1980s AND 1990s Liberalization 105 Criticalities 6 CRITICALITY IN BETWEEN CHINA AND THE WEST, 1996-2004 129 Comments from G. Baird, Y H. Chang, P. Eisenman, L Liu, M. Speaks and other Architects/Critics; A Conversation 146 7 A GLOBAL SITE AND A DIFFERENT CRITICALITY 169 In the World 8 BEIJING, 2008 A history 199 Formlessness 9 GEOMETRIES OF LIFE AND FORMLESSNESS A Chinese urban tradition In Hindsight 215 10 TWENTY PLATEAUS, 1910s-2010s 231 Notes 245 Glossary of Chinese expressions 271 Bibliography 273 Index 291