'the Egg': Second thoughts on Beijing's New Architecture [PoMo Eggs]

Architexturez-IN wrote:
> "Egg" is not a flattering epithet in Chinese, being attached to various 
> insults such as ben dan (stupid egg) and huai dan (rotten egg). (There 
> is no "good egg" in Chinese slang.)

Thankfully not everyone's quick to take the Beijing out of Beijing's 
architecture. Last year, Shauna Liu, born and bred in Beijing, opened 
Côté Cour, the first upscale hotel set in a traditional courtyard or 
siheyuan. Here, in one of the last cultural enclaves in the city, not 
much has changed since Ms. Liu's siheyuan was first built 500 years ago. 
Neighbors exchange gossip, kids run down the packed hutongs, and vendors 
hawk everyday goods like fresh fruit and pirated DVDs (OK so one thing's 
changed). She's managed to fuse the authentic Chinese design with a 
Western splash of style, bringing in Venetian plaster, glass tiles, and 
a lily pond. And guests couldn't be happier – she's almost booked for 
this year's Olympics. "You need people to experience history," Liu tells 
me.

Sadly, even though China's populace is no longer so complacent or 
disconnected, in the push to modernize, the central government has 
gutted Beijing's very soul

cont'd....
http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0331/p09s01-coop.html?page=2