Urban Hopes

Embracing that which could dominate us-the city, infrastructure, overpopulation and social chaos-has been part of the process of Steven Holl Architects as the office has taken on work of increasing complexity and scale in China over the past decade. The projects featured in this book play a serious game with scale and the dynamic between micro and macro. There is no in-between, no easy hybridity, but a study of contrasting and nested scales that acknowledge the fact that the city-dweller's perception across a given day necessarily shifts from micro to macro environments and foci. In content and format the book reflects such juxtaposition, featuring large format images and graphic documentation of Steven Holl's recent works realized in China alongside critiques and analyses offered by a new generation of theorists.