The Chicago-based Council (CTBUH) keeps track of the world's tallest buildings, ranking each one in the world rankings (which is not easy given the spiers, antennas and other designer tricks). In addition, every year he chooses the four best skyscrapers - according to the number of global regions (Europe, Asia and Australasia, both Americas, the Middle East and Africa), and then, after each of the winning structures is presented by its author, the jury chooses the best tower from them. in the world.
CCTV was chosen as the best Asian skyscraper this summer, and therefore Rem Koolhaas spoke about it at the CTBUH ceremony at the famous Crown Hall of the Illinois Institute of Technology. During the presentation of his construction, warning of possible questions, he himself recalled the chapter "Kill the skyscraper" in his 2003 book Content: there he complained about the banality of modern high-rise buildings, characteristic of both New York and Beijing, and the irrationality of the tower typology in its traditional form. A skyscraper cut by a huge sword served as an illustration.
Koolhaas said that he lost faith in the tower's “creativity” and even tried to organize a campaign against the “stamped” skyscrapers. “But the very fact that I am now standing on this stage, in this capacity [as the architect of the award-winning high-rise], means that my declaration of war went completely unnoticed and my campaign was completely unsuccessful,” he concluded.
But the fact that his construction won the Grand Prix should reconcile Koolhaas with the defeat of his concept. The jury, which, however, had to vote four times to come to an agreement, noted his unusual approach to the typology of a skyscraper, where instead of chasing a height ("only" 234 m) attention was paid to an unusual form - a dynamic composition in the form of a loop with a 75-meter cantilever stem. The judges were also interested in the diverse functional program and ingenious engineering solution.
CCTV headquarters rivals for the title of best skyscraper were London's The Shard by Renzo Piano, The Bow tower in Calgary by Norman Foster and the Al Khatem Tower (Sowwah Square) in Abu Dhabi by Goettsch Partners.
