China's top 10 iconic architectures announced

Ten buildings, including the Bird's Nest and the Shanghai Tower were selected as representative of contemporary architecture, according to an appraisal results relased on Sunday.

The 10 buildings were selected from a pool of more than 1,000 skyscrapers built or being built from 1994 through 2014.

They were chosen by public votes and an expert panel from the architectural sector, the real estate industry and public opinion leaders. Online votes accounted for 40 percent of the results, and the jury's decision, 60 percent.

The appraisal, initiated by the Architecture and Culture Society of China (ACSC) and Peking University on April 15, aims to discover and promote the kind of architecture that best suits China's current development at a time when cities are dominated by outlandish skyscrapers, according to Liu Linghong, deputy secretary-general of the ACSC.

Seven among them are designed by foreign architects and the other three by Chinese architects, including Ma Yansong and Wu Chen.

"Becoming an experimental field for foreign architects is a process a city must go through before it becomes great. After this process, China should think about how to choose its own things," said Ma Yansong, whose work, Central Park Plaza, is among the list.

"The projects by Chinese architects on the list symbolizes the renaissance of oriental culture and also sets an example for Chinese cities' future development," said Wang Mingxian, president of the jury.

Here is the list of the 10 buildings:

China Zun, a skyscraper in the Central Business District of Beijing [file photo]

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