Beijing's 'twisted doughnut'

No two ways about it. The new headquarters for the Chinese state TV channel going up near our apartment looks dangerous. It’s been called a “twisted doughnut.”

It’s a startling sight. Two angular upward towers with a gravity-defying cantilevered cross section. Imagine working in that mid-section 40 stories up with nothing below you but air.

But I must admit: It’s stunning. I’d seen renderings of the building, like the one to the left. But it’s now beginning to take shape along the east third ring road. I watch with fascination as the supporting towers begin to rise, both at strong angles.

It’s the latest of several European-designed showcase buildings giving Beijing a radical new and distinctive look. There’s the long-delayed National Grand Theater, or as some call it “The Big Egg.” Set next to the Great Hall of the People, the oval theater looks like something out of a science fiction movie. And of course there is the “Bird’s Nest,” the huge national stadium going up on the Olympic Green, made from what appear to be giant steel twigs. You see it below left. There is also the “Water Cube” nearby, the shimmering aquatics center that looks like a tub of soap bubbles.

It’s the Z-shaped headquarters for the state television broadcaster, known as CCTV, though, that I’ve got a front row seat for. I pass by the construction site about every other day.

My friend Clifford Coonan described it in an article for the Irish Times (behind this paywall) as a “770-foot-high continuous tube without right angles. It's a counter-intuitive building, but a beautiful one too.” Rem Koolhaas, a Dutchman who some say is the world’s most daring architect, designed the building, a trapezoidal eye-catching loop of steel and glass.

Beijing has earthquakes from time to time. So the design might seem too daring. Yet another mutual friend of ours, Rory McGowan, an Irish engineer for the tower, says the design has been rigorously tested, and is very sturdy.

“It’s probably the most analyzed building we’ve ever done. Actually, it’s probably the most analyzed building, period,” Rory told the local That’s Beijing Home magazine.

The magazine described the CCTV structure as Beijing’s “answer to the pyramids of Egypt.” With 10,000 workers scrambling to get the thing done in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics, that’s not a bad description.

Comments

[ts]

Have no idea what that shape means. Looks like a capital letter D. I don't like it.

[bruce hanks]

The building frenzy that is China today can be forgiven/justified by showcase designs like the CCTV structure. Having seen 'sketches' for a couple of years now, it's a treat to see the actual building in progress. Any chance of a weekly photo 'play by play'?