TY - BOOK AU - Crisp,John,tr AU - Edelmann,Frédéric,ed ED - Cité de L'architecture et du patrimoine (Paris, France) TI - In the chinese city : : perspectives on the transmutations of and empire / Cité de L'architecture et du patrimoine ; editor Frédéric Edelmann ; translation John Crisp SN - 9788496954496 U1 - 720.951 PY - 2008/// CY - Barcelona : PB - Actar, KW - ARQUITECTURA CHINA KW - DISEÑO ARQUITECTONICO - CHINA KW - URBANISMO - CHINA N1 - Arquitectura N2 - This work was conceived as a compliment to the exhibition in the Chinese city. Perspectives on the transmutations of an empire, to be shown first at the Cité de L'architecture & du patrimoine (paris) during summer 2008, and then at the Centre de Culture Contemporánia de Barcelona (CCCB) the following autumn. This publication explores both the enthusiasm and the concerns surrounding the Beijing Olympic games whose impact throughout the entire country is particularly potent in the cities that are characterized by an unprecedented construction activity of an unknown scale and speed. On May 12, 2008 an 8.0 magnitude earthquake and several aftershocks ravaged central Sichuan, a region in close proximity to the provincial capital city of Chengdu. China's fragility and vulnerability, along with its grandeur and beauty, are central to the texts that compose this volume. The magnitude of the humanitarian, social economic and cultural consequences of such a catastrophe, as well as potential for damage to the valleys of the great rivers, have inevitably become the backdrop of our thoughts. Unexpectedly, this catalogue will have allowed a description of the context of these events. For the authors and participants of the exhibition, the excitement generated by the Beijing Olympic Games has given way to sadness as these very lines find their way to print. Thus we are unable to offer more consideration, to be more precise, or to be closer to our friends who have been affected ER -