When China opened its door to the world almost 30 years ago, its capital Beijing was made up of mostly small lanes, except for old-fashioned government buildings and uniform Russian style hotels. Israeli journalist Dan Ben-Canaan recalled his first visit to China in the early 1980s.

Three decades later, distinctive constructions like the Olympic Stadium, otherwise known as the Bird’s Nest, and the Dutch architect-designed China Central Television Tower were listed into The 10 Best Architectural Marvels globally in 2007 by Time Magazine, a world renowned US publication. Buildings like these are rising up day and night in bustling metropolises like Beijing and Shanghai, as China quickens its step to involve in the international community and make itself home to numbers of international architects.

When some argued that China has fallen into the trial range of outlandish buildings from foreign designers, Ken Wai and Andy Wen, veteran architects of Aedas, the No. 1 practice globally according to Building Design magazine's newest World Architecture 100 list of leading practices, which measures a practice's size by the number of architectural employees, thought differently. [more...]