The post-war urbanization responded to the need for real house policies in an increasingly industrial society that was huddled at the gates of ancient cities. What we observe in China, on the other hand, is a projection of needs not entirely expected, which foreshadow the construction of a priori housing complexes often empty. This is why the few people we see appear to us more like mannequins, or puppets of a show that got out of hand, victims like mythological shadows of a stage from whose destiny they are excluded. My wish is to stimulate to an historical thinking, in order not to be dazzled in the future by the easy clamor of an inexistent present, and therefore to position our gaze in a critical perspective as when photography becomes a project.