From 18 June to 19 September 2008 Until 19 September 2008, the Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine is presenting « Dans la ville chinoise », an exhibition which takes an objective look at the transition of a rapidly developing China. In the run up to the Olympic Games in Beijing, the greatest worldwide sports event and two years away from the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China is seizing the media space. In order to meet the scale of these two events, these two cities have undergone architectural and urban transformation unprecedented in the history of the world.

A movement with a lot of media coverage thanks to the megalopolises (Beijing, Shanghai,etc.) but which has affected the whole of China and has profoundly changed the lives of hundreds of millions of citizens. The scope of this transformation and the speed of its realisation are a true mystery to the common observer.

Thanks to photographs, videos, interviews, etc. of the exhibition « Dans la ville chinoise », the Cité de l’architecture & du patrimoine sheds light on a phenomenon often obscured by our tourist-driven perspective. A must see event!

Photo D.R.