“…in an unusual online ad campaign started in late October, - TopicsExpress

“…in an unusual online ad campaign started in late October, the project’s developer is boasting that it “could be Beijing’s last abnormally shaped landmark building to enter the market in the coming 10 years.” At the site recently, a saleswoman eagerly warned that the government might not permit “this type of artsy shape” any longer. While the warning might turn out to be just sales hype, it was also a clear attempt to capitalize on President Xi Jinping’s recent call for an end to “weird architecture.” Ever since he issued his admonishment at a high-profile symposium on the arts on Oct. 15, government officials, planners and builders across China have been scrambling to figure out what it means for them. No official elaboration has emerged on what Mr. Xi might have meant by “weird.” But a report carried on a social media platform under People’s Daily, the Communist Party’s mouthpiece, predicted that “in the future it is unlikely that Beijing will have other strangely shaped buildings like the ‘Giant Trousers’ ” — a colloquial reference to the China Central Television headquarters, a hulking, long-limbed edifice designed by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren.”