The Great Wall extends for more than 6000 kilometres, Shanghai’s Oriental Pearl Tower is the world’s third tallest TV and radio tower and Beijing’s Forbidden City is celebrated as China’s most magnificent architectural complex.
The current generation of Chinese has grown up condemning the old ways and they are interested in that which is new. Beijing’s National Stadium, aptly nicknamed the Bird’s Nest is undoubtedly China’s showpiece for the Olympic Games, however the complex was designed by Swiss architects.
For an example of upcoming Chinese and other Asian architects, visitors could venture 70 kilometres northwest of Beijing to Badaling where they will find the Commune by the Great Wall. Located near the most-visited section of the Great Wall, the development includes 12 ‘houses’ currently used as a prime hotel accommodation.
The Suitcase House designed by a team directed by Gary Chang, from the Edge Design Institute based in Hong Kong is one of the showpieces included in Commune by the Great Wall. Chang qualified at Hong Kong University in the late 1980s and founded Edge in 1994.
With such flexibility, all areas, including the roof, have multiple uses. The external appearance of the house alters according to the arrangement of internal screens.
