Dezeen Magazine's annual review of Chinese architecture has identified ten exceptional projects that demonstrate how international design firms and local studios are reshaping China's built environment while honoring traditional aesthetics. The comprehensive list, curated by China editor Christina Yao, showcases everything from monumental cultural institutions designed by globally renowned firms like BIG, OMA, and Zaha Hadid Architects to intimate, site-responsive pavilions created by emerging domestic practices. These selections reflect a maturing architectural scene that balances bold innovation with deep respect for cultural context and historical precedent.
Several projects on the list reinterpret traditional Chinese architectural elements through contemporary materials and construction techniques. The Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, designed by BIG in collaboration with ARTS Group and Front Inc, exemplifies this approach by reimagining the 'lang'—a classic covered corridor connecting garden pavilions—as a network of glazed galleries and porticoes. Founder Bjarke Ingels describes the design as a 'Chinese knot of interconnected sculpture courtyards and exhibition spaces,' where rippled glass and warm-toned stainless steel surfaces reflect the surrounding Jinji Lake waterfront. Similarly, the Maiji Mountain Visitor Centre by ZXD Architects and Beijing Institute of Architectural Design employs a ring-shaped form that references Buddhist circumambulation rituals, with six volumes representing the Six Paths of reincarnation encircling a central water feature.
International firms contributed several landmark projects that respond directly to local geography and cultural identity. OMA's Jomoo headquarters in Xiamen draws inspiration from Fujian province's rocky terrain, creating a 105-meter tower with a mountain-like base and ceramic-striped facade that references both local window tracery and the client's sanitaryware products. Zaha Hadid Architects' Greater Bay Area Sports Centre in Guangzhou takes its form from Song Dynasty sailing ship hulls, while its layered roof system passively cools the 60,000-seat stadium through design elements that emulate pleated silk fans. These projects demonstrate how foreign architects can successfully engage with Chinese heritage without resorting to superficial pastiche.
Smaller-scale interventions by local studios showcase remarkable sensitivity to materiality and landscape. DoDesign's Drifting Stones pavilion in Chongqing perches a fully-glazed viewpoint atop a rocky site, with a hand-chiseled cement-and-stone-powder roof crafted by artisans to mimic surrounding boulders. GN Architects' Seaside Pavilion on remote Chaishan Island employs 36 leaf-like sails made from fishing nets that move with ocean breezes, creating a gateway structure that withstands typhoons while celebrating local maritime culture. Atelier Xi's AYDC Public Art Centre in Guiyang consists of three sculptural stone-clad pavilions inspired by Guizhou's karst caves, housing a library with a vaulted ceiling and sunken reading pit, an events chapel with bulging inverted-arch walls, and an outdoor stage sheltered by a single arched section.
Commercial and cultural programs also generated architecturally ambitious results. The Louis Vuitton concept shop in Shanghai occupies a three-story boat-shaped structure wrapped in monogrammed metallic skin, paying homage to both Shanghai's port history and the brand's trunk-making heritage for ocean voyages. Aedas' Yohoo Museum in Hangzhou features an undulating infinity-loop roof of two interlocking rings that create circular light wells symbolizing the connection between heaven and earth, with the glass-clad volume appearing to float above the ground. MVRDV's Pujiang Platform near Chengdu demonstrates sustainable design through a timber viewpoint with a grass-covered domed roof and telescoping interior that frames views of the new town while minimizing embodied carbon.
These ten projects collectively illustrate China's continued investment in architectural excellence as a means of cultural expression and urban development. The diversity of scales, programs, and design approaches suggests a healthy ecosystem where both global stars and regional talents contribute to a built environment that is simultaneously forward-looking and rooted in place. As Chinese cities continue to evolve, these works provide a model for how architecture can mediate between rapid modernization and the preservation of cultural memory, offering valuable lessons for designers working in similarly dynamic contexts worldwide.
