Is a lack of “aesthetic education” to blame for bizarre architecture and artistic confusion in modern China?
Every year, prizes all over the world are awarded to spectacular architecture. But Archcy.com, a Chinese website on architecture, takes the opposite approach: It has been giving “awards” to the 10 most hideous buildings in China every year since 2010.
The Razzies of the (domestic) architecture world, the “China Ugliest Building Survey” seeks the opinions of a jury of industry experts and invites ordinary people to cast their votes on the website. Notable structures to have received the “accolade” include the Tianzi Hotel in Langfang, Hebei province, an hour’s drive from Beijing, which takes the form of the gods of Fortune, Prosperity, and Longevity in Chinese mythology; the Taiyuan Museum in the capital of Shanxi province, composed of five inverted cones supposedly inspired by red lanterns, but compared by locals to “five extra large ramen cups”; and a wealth of cheap replicas of the Arc de Triomphe, the White House, the Temple of Heaven, and the Tian’anmen Gate.
The aim of the survey, according to the organizers’ website, is to “raise architecture professionals’ sense of social responsibility” and “provoke reflections about what is beautiful and what is ugly among the public.”
While many of the aforementioned buildings have caused no shortage of discussions on Chinese social media, there has been relatively little public conversation around the underlying lack of aesthetic education that may well be partly responsible for such projects.
Well-known educator Cai Yuanpei (蔡元培) first introduced “aesthetic education (审美教育)” into China, a concept developed by the German philosopher Friedrich von Schiller. Agreeing with Schiller that aesthetic education served to restore humanity and cultivate morality, Cai imagined that aesthetic education in China would become a substitute for religions and inspire philosophical and spiritual discussions.
The Ugly Truth: China’s Weird Buildings Have Their Roots in Education is a story from our issue, “Lessons For Life.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
Ningyi Xi is a contributing writer at the World of Chinese. She writes about interesting souls and fascinating places that she encounters during her travels.
