Revisting the Duck

Apparently, in China "archimages" are very popular. I have been trying to discuss other forms of mockitecture, but this is a noteworthy example of the sort of architecture which everyone can like. The tectonic and high tech aspects of the dog are striking to an architect concerned with such issues. Many building are intersting in these regards. What sets the dog apart from say Lloyds in London, is that it is shaped like a dog. And anyone can tell that a dog shaped building is awesome. Is it Irony? Is it Populism? Maybe it is neither, but these sorts of image buildings are not only appropriate in an image driven world with no attention span, but they also add layers of meaning and interest to an otherwise hard to read artform.I applaude the Chinses for rendering the dog so that it looks like something out of a futuristic sci-fi movie. I guess that they are just reminding us that it is indeed 2009. The various examples that Fei Wang gives in his blog, "Chinese Archimage Phenomena" serve as some of the most hilarious examples of building as literal reference. These not only are funny to laymen because of their identifiable connotations, but also to architects. Many of the buildings are literally copied from history or contemporary architecture. That is funny.