Protecting the recent past

There has long been a debate among members of the public about whether the giant Soviet-style buildings constructed in Beijing during the 1950s and old factories in Northeast China should be counted as historical relics. Now, a group of experts is advocating that they should be.

Efforts to preserve these buildings are expected to receive more attention, following the establishment of the Committee of 20th Century's Architectural Heritage on April 29 at the Palace Museum. The committee is affiliated with the Chinese Cultural Relics Society, the country's largest academic organization for the studies and protection of cultural relics. It consists of 74 members, most of whom are veteran architects and archaeologists.

"Ancient buildings are splendid, but most of them have lost practical functions," says Shan Jixiang, one of two co-directors of the newly founded committee. "However, many of those built in the last century still function well.