IMHO, “Totu building” is perfectly ok. Why? Because Tofu itself is already a Chinese-originated word that Westerners understood, and Tofu building is just another to be learned; and they know that Tofu is soft and easy to be broken apart…. with a little imagination and a couple of readings in different context it would then be understood.

Toufu suds, Tofu residues, etc., as suggested by other friends here, could only make it even more confusing.

Any suggestion from others on how to translate the word?

豆腐渣 could be translated more precisely as “tofu residue,” but English speakers unfamiliar with Asian cuisine wouldn’t really understand what it is anyway, so I think simply “tofu” works.

Shoddy works? But that’s somewhat losing the figurative touch. “Tofu” could be understandable for its softness and fragility, and see if it could be a borrowed word into English.
Hope it won’t be a representative word of China……

Agreed, Bob. A more literal translation is better. Media addressing a foreign audience unfamiliar with China might follow up with a brief explanation the first time the term is used.

Could it be that schools in the Sichuan province where the ‘vice mayor’s mutton’ along with any other unfortunate Tofu structures?

May 23 (Bloomberg) — “Tofu buildings.” That’s what rural Chinese have long called structures thrown up with remarkable speed. They look fine on the outside, but aren’t much sturdier than the bean curd on last night’s dinner table.

It seems to work so I dug alittle further and found the following.

Although the origins of this word remain shrouded in mystery it’s place in early texts spell out a remarkably familiar tale.

Whether derived from the Mandarin word doufu, Taiwanese: dauhu or Hakka: teofu, it literally meant “rotten beans” and dates from atleast 950 CE when it was affectionately referred to as the ‘vice mayor’s mutton.’ In other words a meat substitute; a meal for officials too poor to buy the real thing. (according to the American Chamber of Chamber in Taipei)

How apt that today it is used to discribe buildings made of little substance and built by people who were at first short of cash. It seems this common meat substitute has stood the test of time far outliving those tofu buildings we now see in rubble.

By the way, 豆腐渣 should not be translated as Tofu, in my opinion.

Any suggestion from others on how to translate the word?