Becoming “Images of Beijing’s Air Terminal 3”

Becoming is the latest work by renowned Chinese artist and architect Ai Weiwei. The book provides a photographic tour of the construction of Beijing’s new air terminal, the largest covered structure in the world. The photos were taken during Ai’s intermittent site visits from 2005-2008; collectively they offer an idiosyncratic view of the building’s evolution from a tangle of scaffolding and cement sacks to the pristine air terminal in service today. Formatted according to the traditional Chinese photo album, this “book” is more like a box, inside of which each of Ai’s images is embossed on its own card, allowing the reader to reassemble the sequence as he or she desires. Also included are interviews with the author, as well as the terminal’s architect, Norman Foster. An introduction is provided by the book’s editor Brendan McGetrick.