The project of Rem Koolhaas' bureau won the competition in 2002, and already in 2004 construction began, which was planned to be completed by the 2008 Olympics. Indeed, by this time the work was basically completed (the facade was completely assembled), but the building is ready for operation only now: the employees of the state television of the PRC will move there by the end of the year.
The building with a height of more than 200 m is a "commentary" on the traditional skyscraper-prism, in this case, to the twin towers, which is not uncommon in Koolhaas's work. Here they are connected at the level of the tops by a 75-meter cantilever with a height of 14 floors. Since they grow out of a common "base", the result is a "loop" in which the architect has placed the entire cycle of TV production, from the beginning of work to the broadcast of the program. In addition, along this route, there is a series of public spaces, culminating in an observation deck with a glass floor in the console. This idea is an attempt to at least conditionally make the work of Chinese television accessible and understandable to the public.
The façade is lined with diagonal profiles that reflect the structure of the building: where the load-bearing structure is under maximum load, they are most densely located.
CCTV Headquarters is the main building at a new 20-hectare TV campus in Beijing's Central Business District. In addition to it, there is a green area and a rounded technical center, which was commissioned back in 2008, when it was used to broadcast the Olympic competitions. There is also a TVCC (Television Cultural Center), combined with a hotel: this building, being almost finished, was badly damaged by fire in 2009 and its completion date is now unclear.
€ 850 million was spent on the CCTV building itself. Its total area is 473 thousand m2, the height of Tower 1 is 234 m (54 floors), and Tower 2 is 210 m (44 floors).
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