sebastian weiss photographs beijing skyscrapers, like porcelain plates in a blue sky

with just enough blue in the sky to form a blank canvas over a city and just enough clouds to make a composition softer, sebastian weiss pointed his lens up, toward the architectural giants of beijing. ultimately, the series was published in two parts: chinese blue, and chinese blue II. sharp angles, edgeless spirals, two colors that date-back centuries in china — weiss combines them all from a distance to show beijing’s architectural diversity and beautiful fragility. 

chinese blue. bumps. SAKO architects
all images courtesy of sebastian weiss

as sebastian set out to photograph beijing’s heroic skylines, he couldn’t help but notice the colors. ‘[they] sometimes reminded me of the popular blue and white chinaware… chinese blue, the favored tint for porcelain, was developed as early as the 9th century during the tang dynasty.’ since then, beijing has become one of the world’s vibrant mega cities. specifically, over the last 20 years, ‘some remarkable buildings were built,’ says photographer sebastian weiss. with chinese blue I and II, weiss captures the mega-growth of the city, drawing attention to a color palette which stood long before these buildings did, on porcelain plates and in the sky.

chinese blue. watercube. PTW architects

chinese blue. poly international plaza. skidmore, owings & merrill

chinese blue. haidian christian church. GMP architekten

chinese blue. andersen garden housing complex. schmidt hammer lassen architects

chinese blue. andersen garden housing complex. schmidt hammer lassen architects

chinese blue. galaxy soho. zaha hadid architects

chinese blue. galaxy soho. zaha hadid architects

chinese blue. wangjing soho. zaha hadid architects

chinese blue. wangjing soho. zaha hadid architects

chinese blue. linked hybrid. steven holl architects

chinese blue. mandarin oriental. OMA

chinese blue. CCTV headquarters. OMA

chinese blue. national centre for the performing arts. paul andreu

chinese blue. beijing national stadium aka bird’s nest. herzog & de meuron, arupsport, china architectural design & research group, ai weiwei

chinese blue. beijing national stadium aka bird’s nest. herzog & de meuron, arupsport, china architectural design & research group, ai weiwei