The incredible scale of the Forbidden City is daunting.  The central spine contains vast open spaces defined by grand halls and endless arcades.  But the Eastern Palaces and Western Palaces on either side are a world apart.  There are intimate courtyards and lovely rooms where most of the court actually lived.

It is impressive that this has been the center of power in China more than 500 years.  Each successive generation of rulers kept it as an emblem of control rather than destroying what might have been viewed as a symbol of the prior regime.  There are amazing pictures of common people viewing the inner sanctum for the first time after the Communists took over in 1949.

Most of the public parts of the vast complex is in perfectly restored condition, though it is nice to stumble on some areas at the fringes with some patina of time.

Designed by the Italian architect, Mario Cucinella, SIEEB is supposed to be one of the “greenest” buildings in China.  It incorporates extensive sunshading, natural ventilation, generous daylighting, solar power, rainwater harvesting, wastewater recycling, ecological materials and intelligent controls.  The energy saving is supposed to be 30% compared to similar buildings.

This is massive–supposed to be the largest airport in the world.  Oddly, however, it is not monumental, just big.  It is relatively easy to navigate given its size, but architecturally it is disappointing.  There is not the variation in spaces that is so memorable at Kansai Airport in a facility of similarly program.  This is just one big statement that keeps going on and on and on.  The skylights, which are proclaimed as a powerful feature, are actually quite subtle.

This is a whole chunk of the city housing 2500 people in over 700 apartments.  It is incredibly ambitious in its notions about public space in residential environments.  The complex is essentially a gated community with its back to the surrounding city and its focus on a central garden.  Though there are “public” venues in the central space, they are oriented to the same exclusive crowd as the apartments.  The “links” up above house more locally oriented service like dry cleaners and small cafes.  The jury is out on whether this will actually work.

The skin of the residential buildings is remarkably similar to what Holl did at Simmons Dorm at M.I.T.–thin aluminum panels on the outside with embrasures in bright colors.

A stone’s throw from Tiananmen Square, this huge abstract intervention seems to have landed awkwardly in the middle of a bustling city. It defies interaction either with neighboring buildings or pedestrians passing by.  The building sets the arts housed inside clearly apart from the life of the city.  Though bold and striking in form from the exterior, it is cold and vacuous in much of the interior.

The bright green exterior of Opposite House actually seems right at home in the tree-lined Beijing neighborhood where it is located.  The jaw-dropping part of the building is the interior which has dramatic spaces, dazzling light and rich, tactile materials.

CCTV’s daring shape definitely grabs attention from anywhere nearby.  But the best quality of its shape is the way it morphs and changes as you move around it in the city.  In that regard, it reminds me of the Pennzoil Building in Houston by Philip Johnson when it was first completed in the mid-1970s.  It, too, was minimalist urban sculpture that employed simple geometries to create dynamic interactions of the forms from different angles.  Koolhaas outdid Johnson, but he is playing the same game.

Beijing’s Olympic Green was an amazing accomplishment for which the people of the city still feel a great deal of pride.  Especially at night in the summer, the place is mobbed with locals just walking around with their families, taking photos, flying kites and watching little demonstrations.  For western eyes it is very strange to just have these two big objects set in a sea of undifferentiated concrete plaza.  But in such a dense city it seems to provide a welcome relief.

The two objects are really dazzling.  Both buildings are dead simple, but also intricate and complex.  They fascinate from a distance and then, once again in a completely different way close up.  they are also best at night.

Nestled in the valleys of a beautiful site on the outskirts of Beijing is a group of contemporary houses and a clubhouse designed by 12 outstanding Asian architects.  Each house is an individualistic object and they bear little relationship to each other.  Although there are some nice moments in many of the houses, this project seems to be symptomatic of something wrong with architecture today.  These houses are less about site, human inhabitation and building a community than they are about each architect’s personal expression.  They all seem a little hollow and empty.

Furniture House by Shigeru Ban.

Bamboo Wall House by Kengo Kuma from Japan

The Shared House by Kanika R'kui from Thailand

Forest House by Nobuaki Furuya from Japan

Split House by Yung Ho Chang from China

Rammed earth wall in Split House

Suitcase House by Gary Chang from Hong Kong

See and Seen House by Cui Kai from China

Distorted Courtyard House by Rocco Yim from Hong Kong

Cantilever House by Antonio Ochoa from China

Airport House by Chien Hsueh-Yi from Taiwan

The Twins by Kay Ngee Tan from Singapore

The Clubhouse by Seung H-Sang from South Korea

One of the best parts of the trip to China was the opportunity to see these things with my son, Sloan and his girlfriend, Kate.  Sloan’s background in history and law and Kate’s background in anthropology complemented my own background in architecture.  They are really smart, perceptive people who could absorb the places we visited with great depth.  They are also full of positive energy and lots of fun.

We all love to photograph what we are seeing.

And we all love to try new food.

We are not afraid of a lot of hiking.