Results tagged “remkoolhaas”

One of the weirdest controversies we've been reading about has been whether or not the Beijing CCTV is “profane.” We're not sure when rumors that the headquarters of China's media mammoth was a “monument to pornography” surfaced, but it seems like it's now serious enough for Rem Koolhaas himself to categorically deny that he ever meant the building to look like genitalia. “I'm extremely sad that the best intentions, the best work of so many people, literally thousands of people, from the architects to the company to the workers, is compromised by this rumor, which as I said has no truth whatsoever,” he told CCTV. What are that chances that this will be enough to convince errant netizens that they shouldn't blow up the building since it shames the Chinese people? Source:Danwei

CCTV has publicly apologized for the fire that ravaged the TVCC building yesterday night, saying that it was their fault since their employees had illegally staged fireworks too close to the unfinished complex. In an official statement posted to its website, the network said it was deeply grieved “for the severe damage the fire caused to the country's property.” Altogether, the blaze destroyed the Mandarin Oriental, the TVCC's theater complex, killed one firefighter and injured six others. Source: IHT

It's the morning after, and people in Beijing are reporting that last night's burning building, the TVCC Center right across from the main oddly-angled CCTV headquarters, has been put out. By people, we mean the twitterati, because most media organizations here aren't covering it (yet) at all.

Could today's Beijing be what New York City was at the turn of the 20th Century? According to this article in Vanity Fair, there are certainly many similarities to draw upon. Kurt Andersen starts off noting the correspondences between population growth and development of city infrastructure. In 1904 New York's first subway line opened. Likewise, Beijing's new subway system is spreading out at a breathtaking pace (a point which subway fanatic and Beijingologist, David Feng, is unlikely to let us forget).

With Rem Koolhaas's eagerly-awaited CCTV headquarters nearing completion in Beijing, many are considering the role of architecture in China's quest for status as a world power. Great buildings have always played a role in a regime's strength and prestige, and for the last decade China's central government has been hellbent on constructing impressive city skylines. Shanghai's own horizon has progressed at a breakneck pace, with its latest undertaking, Xintiandi II, (dubbed Xintiandi's "big sister" by Shanghai Daily), scheduled for completion within the next 7-10 years. Neville Mars, a Dutch architect in Beijing interviewed by the New Yorker, believes that the central government's approach towards architecture is dangerous:

The Chinese appear to be in control, but it is really moving too fast for anyone.

Ever wonder what your favorite China bloggers look and sound like in the flesh? No? Well, what if they were wearing a hard hat and talking into a boom microphone? Our friends from the north, Danwei, have launched Danwei TV, a classy looking video blog that files reports from around China's capital. Here is how Jeremy Goldkorn (pictured) describes the first installment: