Skyscrapers Redefined

China and the United Arab Emirates seem to be on the forefront of architecture these days. The UAE is benefiting from the high price of oil and is feverishly building out man made islands, swaths of high-rise residential towers, and large civic, entertainment, and retail projects across Dubai and Abu Dhabi. China on the other hand is benefiting from its rapidly expanding economy and the associated creation of wealth.

Some of the world’s most noted, bold, and cutting-edge architectural designs are being carried out in these two countries. Amongst the projects being constructed right now is the headquarters of the China Central Television in Beijing, which is designed by Rem Koolhaas of the Office for Metropolitan Architecture of the Netherlands.

The building will feature 54 floors and be 755 feet tall, and the entire project will encompass over 540,000 square meters (over 5.8M square feet) across the CCTV and TVCC buildings, where 10,000 people will work and visit every day! This will make it the largest single structure in the world after The Pentagon.

Unlike a traditional skyscraper, this building is constructed with the intention of not competing for height. The building is built using a continuous loop of horizontal and vertical sections. What makes this project even more impressive is the fact that it lies within a seismic zone, and that it is being built in two sections. Once the sections finally meet (I suspect a lot of people might be out of a career, or worse if they don’t!), they will be joined during the middle of the night when the steel is at its coolest point.

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