Beijing: The New City

Description

A fully illustrated and in-depth investigation of the Chinese capital with a special focus on the changes in its urban layout within the last two decades (1990-2005). In view of the forthcoming Olympics, Beijing is intent on revitalizing its image as the capital of a nation capable of taking a leading role in the world. Construction is already underway and has been entrusted to the most prestigious architects on the international scene (Koolhaas, Herzog & de Meuron, Ito, Isozaki, Hadid, and Andreu).

Claudio Greco (1955) is Professor of Architecture and Architectural Composition at the Universita degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata." He works as an engineer and architect in the studio he founded in Rome in 1981 and in Beijing in partnership with the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has conducted research and in-depth studies in Italy and China (the latter since 1994) on various topics, concentrating especially on the relationship between form and construction in architecture and between contemporary architecture and historical contexts as well as on the "masters" of the Italian modern architecture movement. His monograph Pier Luigi Nervi, dai primi brevetti al Palazzo delle Esposizioni di Torino, 1917-1948 (Lucerne: Quart Verlag, 2008) has recently been published. His Le case di terra del Fujian (Rome: Meltemi, 2003) deals with traditional Chinese architecture. He has won a number of competitions and has elaborated numerous architecture projects and commissions for public and private clients.Carlo Santoro (1976) received his Doctorate in "Architecture and Construction" from the Universita degli Studi di Roma "Tor Vergata." In 2001 he began working as an architectural designer and collaborating with Claudio Greco in Rome. Since 2003 he has been an architect and researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, where he is involved in various design and research programs on urban development.