Nina Khrushcheva — grand-daughter of Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev — has written an interesting essay (The PRC’s ‘triumph of the will’) on the eerie echoes of China having Albert Speer’s son designing a master plan for the access to the Olympic complex in Beijing:
Speer’s commission was to lay out a master plan for the access to the Olympic complex in Beijing. His design centered on the construction of an imposing avenue to connect the Forbidden City and the National Stadium in which the opening ceremony will take place. His father’s plan for “Germania,” the name Adolf Hitler selected for the Berlin that he planned to construct after World War II, also relied on such a mighty central axis.
China’s rulers see the Olympics as a stage for demonstrating to the world the exceptional vitality of the country they have built over the past three decades. And that demonstration serves an even more important domestic political objective: further legitimizing the regime’s continuing rule in the eyes of ordinary Chinese.
Given this imperative, an architectural language of bombast and gigantism was almost inevitable.
(please note that I have included a specially modified URL for this article since it seems that someone in Korea is blocking normal access to this editorial).
15 Comments
It’s definitely an interesting idea. Monuments have always been a very symbolic way of showing the dominance of the ruling class.
I find it interesting how nations still want bigger and bigger buildings, people going off on skyscraper contests and such, while everything else in the world is seeking to be smaller, more compact, and efficient. Even individual homes are on the way to become more efficient. But architecture is really one of the few things left in the world with giantism being the prominent trend.
Going by the logic of this article, Werner Von Braun was the designer of the master plan for America’s fascist imperative to reach the moon.
The more things change, the more they stay the same - the same families still calling the shots. Too bad someone named Kennedy wasn’t involved, I might have gotten Bingo.
I was in China last year, and my impression is that they’re willing to build grand structures, but a bit cheap with restrooms. To sum it up, the building looks grand but the bathroom was tiny.
In North America we have strict requirements on handicap access to restrooms, so our restrooms are larger and don’t have “steps”. In China the restrooms are small and most toilet stalls are squat type on raised platform with steps. Ventilation and number of stalls is often insufficient.
If I were to write a feedback card for hypermarts in China like Carrefour, I’d suggest tripling the bathroom’s size and follow North American guidelines on handicap access, stall size, “flat” ground, and more sitting type toilets.
I heard this morning that there was an official toilet or urinal manufacturer for the Olympics. Hmmmm….if that is so, you have your point of leverage for accessible restrooms.
I can understand her criticism. Linking the Olympic site (the world’s biggest stage at the moment) to the Forbidden City and the National Museum can be interpreted as being theatrical, symbolic, and didactic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N.....mary_roles
Re: #4
“In China the restrooms are small and most toilet stalls are squat type on raised platform with steps. Ventilation and number of stalls is often insufficient.”
One of my rules for visiting any public restroom in China is to get a lung full of less-foul air before heading in and making my visit as quick as possible.
They actually chose Albert Speer’s son? Wow. That’s either historical cluelessness or really, really big balls.
Considering the CCP’s politically-motivated revision of parts of Chinese history, the selection of Albert Speer’s son for a grand national project — that coincides exactly with the “Zeppelintribüne”, the Nuremberg Nazi parade grounds seen in Leni Riefenstahl’s propaganda masterpiece, Triumph of the Will — is very bad karma.
#6,
As many did in Korea. Thankfully, someone actually listened to the public’s complaints for once in preparation for the the World Cup.
R. Elgin, I totally agree. P.R. China is increasingly flexing its economic and political power over Asia, Oceania, and Africa. In fact, some economists are claiming that the US is being “blackmailed” by China. http://globaleconomicanalysis......china.html
I wish for the peaceful rise of this dragon, but it seems it is anything but, and will lead to eventual showdown between the Western powers and China. But then the US is bankrupt and China is the creditor (e.g. owns 25% of Fannie Mae bonds).
Check this out: someone in Korea has blocked direct access to the linked Taipei site for this thread and also another site that quotes the same editorial, except that blog is based upon things Burmese:
burmadigest.info/2008/08/02/chinas-triumph-of-the-will/
Just who is kissing Chinese ass in Korea!?
Just who isn’t?
The French Versailles palace was grand too, except they didn’t install toilets and the royal guests relieved themselves in the stairwell.
The Forbidden City in Beijing? Rows of portable potty in the courtyard. The Great Walls of China tourist areas? Again, portable potty. Geez if you’re going to spend $40 billion on the Olympics and pay the big bucks for Mr. Speer, you can at least allocate ONE billion dollars to improve public restroom facilities around major tourist landmarks.
At least the sidewalks in Beijing and Tianjin were nice, flat, wide and usually wheelchair accessible. They made some attempt to build pedestrian crossings with elevators but didn’t maintain it well.
Taipei has better toilets, but needs standardized sidewalks that are wheelchair friendly (slopes instead of steps) as mandatory code for all new construction.
Dag “Jerry”, did you even read the editorial? All you seem interested in are bathrooms . . .
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