Beijing’s New Architecture
CCTV Tower
I wish I could go to Beijing for the Olympics. And it’s not because of my love for competitive sports or my desire to take part in a gathering of all the world’s nations, though I would like to experience this at some point in my life. Mainly, I want to see the amazing new buildings built for the Olympics: Rem Koolhaas’s CCTV Tower, the “Water Cube,” Herzog & de Meuron’s “Bird’s Nest” Stadium. Seriously, China and Dubai are the most exciting places for exploratory architecture right now. (However, both have ethical issues attached. Should architects choose projects with the human rights records of the clients in mind? But that’s for another post.)
The New York Times has a great overview of the most important new buildings in Beijing that reveals a lot of interesting information for how some of the designs’ distinctive characteristics were developed. I found the development of the bubble-like forms that create the outer walls and roof of the Aquatics Center (a.k.a. Water Cube) very interesting. By studying the way bubbles meet, the architects developed a module that, when repeated, would create a cube. Then, tilting the cube and cutting through it, the architects were able to form the walls and roof that appear random and organic but are actually based in a pattern. The same insights on how the web-like support system of the Olympic Stadium and the CCTV Tower are also in the overview. It was also interesting to find that the new Terminal 3 of the Beijing International Airport is so large that it would span the entire width of Lower Manhattan. That’s so big!
Water Cube and Olympic Stadium
I am currently in love with Rem Koolhaas’s CCTV Tower. I love it’s form, with the cantilevering upper floors supported by the twin tilted towers. I also love how the building is a statement on skyscrapers, that by being a circular building it almost mocks the attempts to build higher and higher. It really is one of the most interesting and, in my mind, successful modern forms.
i just came back from the city of Beijing, The Bird Nest is compeleted and is being used. The tickets are extremley hard to aquire.The CCV tower has some way to go, but the work 24-7 and you just can’t realize the speed with which there production exists. The built a road in the month that I was there and are using it.
I went everywhere and eat and saw all the things one should see in China. I have absolutley no proplems of any kind any where.
You can buy so many good things there and at a fraction of the price. I will never forget the experience or the friendliness of the people there.
Rem Koolhaas’s CCTV Tower begins the transformation of how we view surveillance, a little Art, Style and above all melt into the landscape.
In most places, cameras stick out and cause an eye sore. The concept of blending this technology in a not so intrusive way is welcomed here.