Ideale Stadt: Reale Projekte (Ideal City - Real Projects): GMP in China

Over the last six years, the Hamburg firm of von Gerkan, Marg, and Partner--gmp, for short--has designed more than 100 projects for clients in China, 5 of which have been completed and 20 of which are in planning or construction stages. Preeminent among them is a city made entirely from scratch, a harbor enclave near Shanghai for 800,000 inhabitants. Lingang New City has been conceived in concentric rings around an artificial circular lake; gmp's plans show everything from a city archive to theaters and churches and convention centers fulfilling its function while retaining a distinct modern identity. Texts include Bernd Pastuschka's essay exploring the ideal city, illustrated with urban plans dating from 1493 through Le Corbusier, and an interview with Meinard von Gerkan, who cites as the biggest challenge his practice faces in China "the Gamba ceremony during every dinner, that tries to test our ability as Europeans to hold our drink."