The End of Weird Architecture?

In China, at least. From the New York Times:

… in an unusual online ad campaign started in late October, the project developer (for Chaoyang Park Plaza) is boasting that it “could be Beijing’s last abnormally shaped landmark building to enter the market in the coming 10 years.” At the site recently, a saleswoman eagerly warned that the government might not permit “this type of artsy shape” any longer.

While the warning might turn out to be just sales hype, it was also a clear attempt to capitalize on President Xi Jinping’s recent call for an end to “weird architecture.” Ever since he issued his admonishment at a high-profile symposium on the arts on Oct. 15, government officials, planners and builders across China have been scrambling to figure out what it means for them.

The Guangzhou Circle building, designed by Joseph di Pasquale, in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, contains corporate offices, a hotel and the Guangdong Plastic Exchange, the world’s largest stock exchange for raw plastic material.

As for Chaoyang Park Plaza, whose developers celebrated it as possibly the last stand of architectural weirdness in Beijing, it sold more than 1 billion renminbi (about $163 million) worth of space on a single day in November, a sales agent said. She said she could not measure how much the ad had helped.

Meanwhile, in Vancouver, regular PT commenter Roger thinks much of the stuff we do is architectural vandalism:

His gallery of domestic horrors can be found here.

Ray Spaxman passes along this annual review from the Huffington Post without comment. (It’s not too late, Ray, to add your opinion below. Everyone else too.)

20 Of The Most Ingenious Works Of Architecture In 2014

Here’s a considerably less exuberant composition from China:

Neri&Hu’s Split House: This split level apartment series in Shanghai updates a crumbling lane house — once a staple design in China.

Something stunning from Denmark:

The Blue Planet by 3XN:This futuristic aquarium in Copenhagen, Denmark is fittingly called the Blue Planet.

And irresistibly, something absurd from, where else, China:

The Hebei Academy of Fine Arts: A new art school in China, the Hebie Academy of Fine Arts has been drawing attention for its bizarre architecture, which is an almost exact knock-off of the Hogwarts castle from the Harry Potter film franchise.