tofu building
n.— «Many other survivors were convinced that corruption had played a role in determining which buildings collapsed and which were unscathed. One man pointed to a new building whose first floor had collapsed, even as older buildings around it were intact. “They used fewer bricks in the new building, so they could earn more money,” he said. The shoddily constructed buildings are commonly called “tofu buildings” because of their weak structural condition.» —“Why China’s buildings crumbled” by Geoffrey York Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) May 15, 2008. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
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