New headquarters of the CCTV, China Central Television, Beijing.
Fascinating and superlative. It's so massive that we almost forget it's high too! About 230 meters. What are those veins all over? The steel skeleton kept apparent. This building is a loop: it has no end. This design should secure the title of ultimate landmark around for decades to come. The architects concluded that competing for the highest roof just no longer made sense. Had to think differently. Interpretations in the air: the loop represents the continuous flow of information, and to some extent an attenuated myth of Hierarchy.
The base and the legs were built first. That stage looked relatively smooth, despite the crazy angles a la Pisa. Then increased the stress, I guess, of having to grow horizontally the arms of the cantilever that closes the loop at the top. The final welding, they say, had to be performed right before sunrise, in order to prevent premature dilatation of the metal.
When I ride my bike around to shoot pictures of the beast, I'm always confused by how different it can be perceived, depending on the angle you observe from. I've also looked for a simple way to describe it, and I think I finally found one, as we'll see in the next post.
Design by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren (OMA)
East 3rd Ring Road, Chaoyang, Beijing