[photopress:BeijinghinaCentraltelevision2.jpg,full,alignright]An amazing article by Robin Pogrebin in the New York Times heralds the China Central Television Headquarters in Beijing as being a ‘wonder of the world.’ The building is scheduled to be completed in 2008 which fits in neatly with the Olympics.
Robin Pogrebin writes:
Set on a site that’s about as large as 37 football fields, Rem Koolhaas’s television authority headquarters in Beijing may initially seem intimidating. This 54-story tower leans and looms like some kind of science-fiction creature poised to stomp all over the surrounding central business district.
But if the five-million-square-foot building is one of the largest ever constructed, its architect sees it as a people-friendly reinvention of the skyscraper.
Rem Koolhaas in the interview said, ‘Awe is not usually a condition our buildings inspireAmidst all the skyscrapers there, it’s relatively low. It will feel accessible.’ The television building is essentially an upside down U with right angles, an office tower bent out of shape.
There have been rumors, ever since the contract was awarded in 2002, that this was a bridge too far and it would not be completed in time. But construction photos suggest that it may well be completed on schedule in 2008.
China’s television network — with more than one billion viewers — will be capable of broadcasting 250 channels when the headquarters is completed. CCTV currently produces and broadcasts just 16 channels.
Source: New York Times
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