Swiss architect Jacques Herzog has declared his support for plans by the Chinese government to curb the number of flamboyant and "weird" buildings in the country.
Jacques Herzog ? co-director of Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron ? said China's construction boom has allowed Western architects to use the country as a testing ground for projects that would not otherwise be built.
But the architect behind Beijing's experimental Bird's Nest stadium said that it is time for the practice to stop. He supports plans by the Chinese government to ban "oversized, xenocentric and weird" buildings.
"I understand the Chinese government today when they say 'stop weird architecture'," said Herzog, "because many came there and just did things they couldn't do in the west." Earlier this year China released a directive that could put an end to the country's trend for bombastic architecture
"The stadium, for instance, we couldn't have done in the west ? we always said that ? but I think the stadium is a very, very serious attempt to combine contemporary aesthetic with very, very traditional ideas from China," he added.
Herzog made the comments during a panel discussion on Chinese architecture hosted by Asia Society Switzerland.
Artist Ai Weiwei ? a collaborator on the Herzog & de Meuron's Bird's Nest stadium ? was also on the panel, alongside art collector and former Swiss ambassador to China, Uli Sigg.

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