Building on two cultures

Now, the firm wins about 90 percent of the design competitions it enters, says Jiang Xiaofei, co-leader at NEXT Beijing.

"They (Western architects) have very good ideas but they don't always know what the Chinese developers want. And my job is to point out clearly about what they want and to what extent."

Take the Changsha bridge for instance. Jiang attributes part of the success to the Chinese's preference for conceptualization.

"When you say the word 'Chinese knot', you are basically in. It is easy for people to relate to and to accept. It's the same with people nicknaming the Beijing National Stadium as the Bird's Nest and the CCTV tower as the Big Pants."

It is not just the quantity of their work that is impressive, but also the diversity.

The firm is now building about 20 towers in different Chinese cities. It is getting involved in more cultural projects like an opera house, a library and museums. It is also in charge of the Vanke project that creates affordable housing for young urbanites.

While the real estate industry in China has matured during the last decade, there is still much to be done in the aspects of industry guidelines and sustainable practices like pre-fabrication, van de Water says.

He is also concerned about how to refurbish the buildings that have been built quickly during the rapid urbanization, as several of his first buildings have already been demolished.

The firm now has about 40 people in Beijing and about 20 people in Amsterdam. Unlike many other Western offices that have headquarters outside of China, van de Water strives to make NEXT a local company. People speak Chinese in the office.

"In Amsterdam, they think they are the headquarters and we believe we are the headquarters... The reason is simple: if people who don't live or work in China start making decisions for China, it will eventually not work out.

"The most important thing for Western architects in China is to realize that you will probably never understand China. But you always need to try to understand it. I can never be Chinese, but I can try to understand Chinese culture better. That's an infinite source of energy for my projects," he says.

Van de Water is now preparing a new version of the book, which will be updated with the new projects and experience since the first Dutch version was published in 2012. The book will be out next year.