Star architects as Peking's accomplices

Roman Hollenstein accuses international star architects of having been incredibly naïve to erect monuments to the power of the Chinese government, as Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have done with their Beijing Olympic Stadium. "Instead of profiting from the Olympic Games, their brand could suffer now that it's clear that the Chinese government was only paying lip service with its promises to improve the human rights situation. At the same time Herzog & de Meuron must realise that they have allowed themselves to become the accomplices of an unscrupulous regime. To an even greater extent than Koolhaas' CCTV highrise, Beijing's new airport by Norman Foster or the blue bubble-shaped swimming pool building by Sydney's PTW Architects, the evocative Olympia Stadium - like the elegantly styled Olympic torch - could become a symbol of a China that oppresses dissidents, civil rights activists and minorities as well as an entire people in Tibet."

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