Modu Magazine: A Tale of Urban China

Portfolios: Chinese cities, delusion and despair

Many portfolios have recently attracted our attention because of the quality of their images or their subjects. While approaches vary from classic photojournalism to more artistic approaches, all seem to be questioning the growth of Chinese cities, whether seriously, subtly or ironically: depleted natural resources, social margins on the outskirts of cities, urban displays, the control of public space, etc.

In 2011, 69 Chinese cities were classified by the State Council as cities with depleted or damaged natural resources. Top Depleted Cities from Caixin Online provides an overview of the most severely affected cities. Here, the photographs are especially helpful in providing an overview of the problems: falling coal and oil prices, the scarcity of certain mineral resources, the end of car production in Changchun (renamed the “Chinese Detroit”), etc. Do pay particular attention to explanations/descriptions below each picture.

Two interesting portfolios focus on the limits of Beijing and Chengdu, somewhere between wastelands, cities and countryside, and voluntary and imposed exclusions. City limits from Caixin Online focuses on the marginality of inhabitants in an outlying district of Beijing, an area which has clearly not followed China’s march of urbanization, where basic urban services are still absent. In Chengdu, Growth, from the German photographer Lukas von Rantzau, covers a developing area south of Chengdu, where high-rise residences and offices lie amid a rural agricultural backdrop.

The French photographer Tim Franco, in his project “Vertical Communism“, focuses on the gigantism of Chongqing, a city he has often frequented. His work engages the issue of the large and monumental in scale. In his urban landscape, the photographed subjects, urban and natural territories, construction projects and people, appear disproportionately large, dense, deserted, saturated – and dare we say, at times inhuman. Global Center is another work by Lukas von Rantzau, in this case focusing on the New Century Global Center. Located in Chengdu, the building, whose inauguration was widely publicized a few months ago, is said to be the largest building in the world in terms of covered surface area. Encompassing an area of 1.7 million m², the structure includes a shopping center, a skating rink, one of the largest 3D cinemas in Asia, a duplicate of a Mediterranean village complete with indoor beach and LCD screen sun, two 5-star hotels, and conference rooms and offices.

The project “Subtitles” of Eric Leleu, a French photographer based in Shanghai, focuses on the red propaganda banners of the Communist Party that punctuating all Chinese public spaces. Subtly, “Subtitles” offers a new reading of the city based on its texts. Chapter 1, “Authority” deals with propaganda messages in white text on a red background, addressed to the masses, one can usually find such message in the streets, squares, houses or in various danwei throughout the city. Eric Leleu, in Chapter 2, “Voxpopuli“, reflects on “urban clothing” as a banner where one can writes slogans about daily life in China, dealing alternately with history, cultural habits, consumption, power and/or topical issues in the most recent headlines. The relationship between writing and the photographer’s topic becomes comical when the banners contribute a “subtitle” to the photographed scenes. Chapter 3, “Silent protest“, presents blank red banners installed by the photographer in places far away from the city. From the exploitation of communist semantics emerges a poetic narration of landscape and territory, which reminds us of Bertrand Desprez’s work “Blue Leaf” in Japan (Aoba, 2004), or the more recent works by Milla-Kariina Oja with Homescape.

  • 2013/08/19

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  • Modu Team

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Immobile Strikes for more Mobility: 39.905909, 116.391349
Skating and the City: 31.225344, 121.488892
Jinhua Architecture Park became a Wasteland: 29.108404, 119.692483
Beijing Besieged by Waste: Photographer Wang Jiuliang Investigates: 39.905909, 116.391349
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A Digital Library in Beijing’s Subway: 39.983557, 116.310239
Art in Beijing’s Subway: 39.905909, 116.391349
Tibet : 30% Urban Residents in 2020: 29.646923, 91.117212
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Shanghai Graffiti in Memory of Buildings marked for Demolition: 31.234745, 121.440296
Vertical Cemeteries Economize Space in Hong Kong: 22.297624, 114.248285
The Heritage of Japanese Comfort Houses in Shanghai: 31.268537, 121.498833
Guangzhou: New Initiative to Recycle Plastic: 23.116700, 113.250000
Cultural Infrastructure in China: A New Strategy in Urban Marketing : 39.600238, 109.778781
Sex and the City of Dongguan: 23.051413, 113.741798
Old Shangri-La Ravaged by Fire: 27.830682, 99.700584
Resurgence of Interest in Beijing’s Old Hutong: 39.893550, 116.386328
Guangdong acquires Carbon Market : 23.116700, 113.250000
Hong Kong: Miniature Sculptures for Social Housing: 22.281906, 114.157884
Persistent Shortage of Social Housing in Hong Kong: 22.277279, 114.194641
Brownfield in Beijing: From Decaying Steel to Electro Dance Party: 39.914476, 116.154671
Re-Purposed Bomb Shelters offer New Housing Options : 39.905909, 116.391349
New Anti-pollution Plan for Beijing: 39.905909, 116.391349
Subway passengers in Beijing now able to pay fares by recycling: 39.905909, 116.391349
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Creating land from sea: 39.013155, 118.563080
New heritage renovation and restoration measures announced in Beijing: 39.905909, 116.391349
Chongqing’s Invisibles: A Photographic Series: 29.554255, 106.569003
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Zhang Kechun’s Yellow River : 35.644686, 100.222778
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City planning from China to Angola: -9.000000, 13.266667
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Mongolian Yurt in Beijing protests the city’s high rents: 39.905909, 116.391349
Hong Kong art collective CYRCLE storms skyscrapers: 22.283485, 114.224768
Harbin Sound Map: 45.765667, 126.616058
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Cultural Heritage Day: Shanghai opens more than 100 historical sites to visitors: 31.216228, 121.449094
New measures to curb car congestion: 39.905909, 116.391349
Proposal to transform Beijing into a Seaport: 39.905909, 116.391349
Chinese Urbanization overlooks religion: 28.656400, 115.877257
Beijing: A Seventh Ring Road to Enhance Integration with Hebei: 39.905909, 116.391349
Cell Phone Pedestrian Lanes planned for Chongqing : 29.611233, 106.599720
Chengdu: A new technology hub of China’s South-west: 30.676555, 104.061278
Fare hike debated for Beijing’s Public transport: 39.905909, 116.391349
Dalian building World’s largest off-shore airport: 38.964628, 121.535568
China’s first metro museum opens in Shanghai: 31.171879, 121.361718
China’s stalled baby boom: 39.905909, 116.391349
Shanghai to Digitalize City by 2016: 31.225344, 121.488892
Large-scale Strikes Spread in Southern China: 23.024917, 113.114617
A social study of Beijing’s underground homes : 39.905909, 116.391349
Arranging residential interstices in Beijing: 39.905909, 116.391349
Chuzhou announces plans for Singaporean-designed industrial park : 32.244036, 118.327560
French bridge gets second life in Shunde : 22.796297, 113.288612
Qinhuai River redevelopment process begins in Yangzhou: 32.393667, 119.436665
When architecture becomes literature: 30.245512, 120.155797
Participatory budgeting to revitalize Chengdu’s rural areas: 30.676555, 104.061278
Rural to urban training programs offered to aspiring urbanites in Ordos: 39.582501, 109.753199
Air corridors in Beijing to blow away the smog : 39.905909, 116.391349
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Large-scale Redevelopment of Shanghai’s main road Pudong Avenue : 31.243567, 121.527414
Hong Kong’s religious institutions enter real estate market: 22.276039, 114.158764
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Urban exodus for Chinese artists: 29.954231, 117.909019
A photographic approach to Chinese urbanization: 37.333682, -121.890022
New Study on the impact of urban design on obesity: 31.223984, 121.418682
Unlocking the power of a child’s imagination to improve urban planning practices: 28.657291, 77.227260
Prominent firms collaborate on star-shaped terminal for New Beijing airport: 39.512120, 116.411133
“Urban acupuncture” in rural China: 28.354175, 121.139897
Guardian auction house in Beijing welcomes a new museum: 39.922540, 116.403902
“Heteroscapes”: Artist Wang Bo’s urban landscapes in transition : 29.558571, 106.549282
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Hong Kong residents urged to provide opinions on built environment : 22.330976, 114.191463
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Yangtze River driving urbanization in Central China: 30.596021, 114.299280
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Digital archives of China’s cultural heritage: 39.905909, 116.391349
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Living in Beijing: a suburban topography: 39.909233, 116.653948
Residential mobility in Shanghai: 31.239136, 121.399441
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Hong Kong’s rooftop farming: 22.396428, 114.109497
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Guangzhou’s Little Africa: Xiatangxi Neighborhood: 23.142201, 113.271095
Beijing blue roofs: 39.937355, 116.414545
“Ink City” by Chen Shaoxiong: 23.116700, 113.250000
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798: Arts in the City: 39.983348, 116.488037
The Visual Space of the 798: 39.983348, 116.488037
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A study reveals four types of “extreme mobility” in Beijing: 39.905909, 116.391349
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A Hongkongese architecture firm promotes social dialogue in the Chinese countryside: 22.279328, 114.162813
Beijing: The forgotten temple of Baitasi neighbourhood: 39.923640, 116.357290
A Chinese sovereign fund invests in Grand Paris: 48.856610, 2.351499
Hangzhou: Kengo Kuma completes a new museum: 30.159848, 120.076361
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A student in architecture completes a mosque in Shaanxi Province: 34.303085, 108.487008
Beijing: state of the art: 39.940442, 116.411991
Can the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Cluster become the “Dragon Head” of the North?: 39.909233, 116.653948
Offbeat practices in China’s Public Space: 22.279328, 114.162813
China, kingdom of bike-sharing service: 30.275674, 120.150486
Portfolio: Shanghai, Dust Never Sleeps: 31.225344, 121.488892
Will Chinese Apps Redefine The Future of Bike-Sharing in France?: 48.856610, 2.351499
Mad Architects’ Proposal for Montparnasse Tower: a ’Mirage’ in Paris: 48.842110, 2.321980
The Urban Fabric of Xiamen Revealed by Atelier Sóo-Tsāi: 24.457200, 118.074500
Promoting ‘Less Is More’: Beijing’s New Urban Master Plan: 39.905909, 116.391349
Long-term planning is what Hong Kong needs to confront its land shortage: 22.279328, 114.162813
A Brief History of Beijing’s Former Princely Mansions (and their Latest Challenges): 39.934360, 116.380430
How the Greater Bay Area Initiative is Reshaping South China’s Urban Development: 22.279328, 114.162813
Urban renewal of offices in Beijing: an answer to high space demand and rising prices?: 39.905909, 116.391349
In Beijing Old City, An Alternative Revitalisation Strategy Conserves Vernacular Heritage Yet Invites Gentrification: 39.893550, 116.386328
Hong Kong In Video-Games: Mafia Culture and Urban Fabric As A Source Of Inspiration: 22.279328, 114.162813
The “Taobao villages” phenomenon: how e-commerce (also) redefines rural areas in China: 35.065973, 115.599174
Is Gentrification Inevitable in Urban Village Renewal Projects? The case of Vanke’ Wancun Project in Shenzhen: 22.661502, 114.053729
‘The Port and the Image’ – The Port of Ningbo: Fiction and Reality: 29.872034, 121.550138
Japanese Architect Arata Isozaki Receives 2019 Pritzker Prize: 30.267185, 120.082583
Authenticity, Tourism, and Residents: the Dilemma of Heritage Conservation in China: 36.443981, 115.964470
‘The Port and the Image’ – Excavations of a Shipwreck: 24.903565, 118.586082
Lighting up Hong Kong: between independence and integration, a power grid in the Pearl River Delta: 22.279328, 114.162813
How China’s Chequebook Diplomacy is Reshaping Urbanisation in Cambodia: 10.622817, 103.522110
‘The Port and the Image’ - A Nanjing Just Like Nanjing: 31.988379, 118.817139
Hong Kong Bets on Transitional Housing to Solve the Accommodation Shortage: 22.279328, 114.162813
“Forest” by Yan Wang Preston: Grafting Old Trees to Young Cities: 25.716559, 100.255051
Vietnam: Green Cities or Greenwashing?: 10.773400, 106.707200
Indonesia: How do Deal with Overload Cities ?: -6.175210, 106.827080
Reframing Chinese Villages: 30.004949, 117.983483
The Port and the Image’ - The diffuse radiation of Guangzhou’s trade history: 23.116700, 113.250000
In Shenyang and Chengdu, the Strange Aesthetic of “Flat-Pack” City: 41.795900, 123.438800
The Port and the Image’ - Xu Hao: When Objects Become Language: 31.225344, 121.488892
Oil-for-Development: The Shifting Dynamics of Sino-Angolan Relations: -8.808065, 13.232689
“Champêtre Entertainment” by Zhang Xiaowu: Contemporary Rural Lives in Wenzhou: 27.778645, 120.650826
“Hangzhou House” by Li Qing: Globalization is an Idea: 30.275674, 120.150486
Photographic Reflections of/on Urbanity: The Creative Resilience of Java’s Slums: -7.801140, 110.365391