Futuristic building ready for national TV
Source: Agencies |
May 17, 2012, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
THE futuristic building - with two leaning towers linked with a 90-degree twist at the top - has attracted much controversy since the design debuted a decade ago.
Now, it is ready for occupation by China's national TV broadcaster, China Central Television.
Construction of CCTV's new headquarters in Beijing officially concluded yesterday - 10 years after Dutch firm OMA envisioned a skyscraper that would symbolize China's rise on the world's stage.
Like the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube - signature venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics - the CCTV building is part of a new architectural wave that is redefining Beijing.
Nestled amid a cluster of skyscrapers in the capital city's central business district, the 54-story, 234-meter structure has two leg-like structures leaning toward each other, meeting in mid-air with a right-angled deck-like connecting body hanging 160 meters above the ground.
'Big boxer shorts'
Its bold design has drawn praise and brickbats and earned it the nickname of "big boxer shorts" from city residents.
Chief architect Ole Scheeren - a German who co-designed the building with Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas - said it was designed for interconnectivity crucial for a media giant such as CCTV.
"One thing this building has done is it has asked a lot of questions. It has questioned what is architecture, what can architecture be, what can it do," Scheeren said.
"This question can be answered far more deeply and interestingly now that the building will start to live and will start to be utilized."
CCTV looked worldwide for the design of its new headquarters in 2002, shortly after China joined the World Trade Organization and won its bid to host the Olympics.
Construction began in 2004 and by summer 2008, its exterior was completed.
But then disaster. A fire in February 2009 engulfed an adjacent building in the complex that was to house a luxury hotel.
An illegal fireworks display to mark the end of the Lunar New Year was to blame. One firefighter died and eight others were injured.
The disaster became an embarrassing episode for CCTV. Its head, Zhao Huayong, was replaced and 20 people sent to prison.
Now, it is ready for occupation by China's national TV broadcaster, China Central Television.
Construction of CCTV's new headquarters in Beijing officially concluded yesterday - 10 years after Dutch firm OMA envisioned a skyscraper that would symbolize China's rise on the world's stage.
Like the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube - signature venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics - the CCTV building is part of a new architectural wave that is redefining Beijing.
Nestled amid a cluster of skyscrapers in the capital city's central business district, the 54-story, 234-meter structure has two leg-like structures leaning toward each other, meeting in mid-air with a right-angled deck-like connecting body hanging 160 meters above the ground.
'Big boxer shorts'
Its bold design has drawn praise and brickbats and earned it the nickname of "big boxer shorts" from city residents.
Chief architect Ole Scheeren - a German who co-designed the building with Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas - said it was designed for interconnectivity crucial for a media giant such as CCTV.
"One thing this building has done is it has asked a lot of questions. It has questioned what is architecture, what can architecture be, what can it do," Scheeren said.
"This question can be answered far more deeply and interestingly now that the building will start to live and will start to be utilized."
CCTV looked worldwide for the design of its new headquarters in 2002, shortly after China joined the World Trade Organization and won its bid to host the Olympics.
Construction began in 2004 and by summer 2008, its exterior was completed.
But then disaster. A fire in February 2009 engulfed an adjacent building in the complex that was to house a luxury hotel.
An illegal fireworks display to mark the end of the Lunar New Year was to blame. One firefighter died and eight others were injured.
The disaster became an embarrassing episode for CCTV. Its head, Zhao Huayong, was replaced and 20 people sent to prison.
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