Structure

China central television headquarters is constructed in Beijing central business district (CBD) close to East Third Ring Road Guanghua Road Beijing, the whole area is about 197000 meter square. The CCTV headquarters is a 234 meter, 44 storey skyscraper the whole area of the building is about 550,000 meter square cost about 5 billion RMB. CCTV headquarters is combined by a five star hotel and television culture center.

The two tower blocks of the CCTV headquarters incline about 6 degree entad, and connected by ‘L’ shape suspension structure, the glasses wall façade is composed by few abnormity geometry patterns. The CCTV headquarters has been considered as complex construction, the ground breaking started from 21st of Oct in 2004, on 30th of May in 2007 the building was joined to become one and a half buildings, and finished on 1st of Jan 2008. Since the start of the construction the safety of this building has attracted most of the attention. Most of the experts from china worried that the design of the building is too complex the over turn loads is too huge while the resistance of building itself is too weak. Aims at this problem Ole Sheeren of OMA introduce the safety consideration of the building.

The structure of the CCTV headquarters is composed by lots of irregular rhombus shape metal scaffold. Although the size of these rhombus are different and arranged irregularly but all of these are designed in purpose and calculated accurately. These steel grids exposes on the outer façade, therefore the load of the building can flow through this grid system and transfer into the ground. Because of the abnormity design the loading applied on different part of the building also verifying as well, therefore these rhombus structures become the tools which can be used to adjust the weighted. The more pressure where the building is the more rhombus structures it is, vice verse.

The connection part of the building is using the experience of bridge architecture technology; however it is too huge to be considered as a bridge, part of the bridge has entirely 11 stories height including a 75 meter suspension arm without any support.

On Lantern Festival 9th of Feb 2009 the television cultural center caught on fire because of the fireworks. On 10th of August in 2010 the renovation of the television cultural center had begun. In order to make sure the safety of the renovation process, the renovation process will divided into two main parts one is clear and dismantle another one is rebuild process. Both of these two processes will using high technique and environmental protection method to make sure the renovation process will not cause any affect to the main structure.

Architectural Porn

Though from structural point of view it is a great success under the challenge from Koolhass’s design, it still a controversy through the whole country. Some complain its extremely high cost of construction while many people are starving and surveying from poorness. Epically, the sexual symbols shows on the building and Koolhass’s sexual metaphor made Chinese people thinks that they are humiliated and fooled. Some people even think it is architectural porn.

– A writer, pen name called Heqing, after he notice Koolhass’s design, he published an article ‘Should be hanged architect? – Doubt about CCTV new headquarter’, and ask to give up the design. Due to its sexual connotation, extremely high contraction cost and safety issues. After this article is published, massive amount of websites forwarded it, and made the whole country discuss about this.

– Zheng Guangfu, professor of Nanjing Southeast University School of Architecture, also wrote “Who let science and economy cry”, it accused of CCTV new headquarter is an” evil (oblique in Chinese pronounce the same with evil) Door “. In particular, in another Zheng’s article “Do buildings that are anti-science, anti-economy, anti-culture are advanced?” it keenly lay out the bad metaphor that the CCTV new headquarter contains male and female genitals symbols in the early time: “Koolhaas’s design had been Arata Isozaki strongly recommended, whether or not it contains genital symbols? The T-shape building (which was on fire in 2009), isn’t it like a penis points to the sky and even with srcotum? ” Arata Isozaki, a Japanese architect, has always been well known to engage in genital buildings. ‘Lust’ penetrate in Arata Isozaki’s metaphor and it is a common factor. This “genital building master”, was one of the five judges who are invited to the new CCTV headquarter design, because of his strong recommendation and made Koolhass’s design finally marked.

– Heqing talked about the image in Koolhass’s new book ‘Content’ with the professor of Central Academy of Fine Arts Dean, Wang Min, he could not believe that is Koolhass’s work but identified as a spoof on the network, because these image are easily produce by software like Photoshop. Later on, he bought this book in the United States and told Heqing, the book contains these images indeed. Heqing also sent these images to the head of China Academy of Fine Arts, Xu Jiang, questioned CCTV’s deputy director during the first National People’s Congress meeting bravly. The deputy director answered: Koolhaas’s design does mean that (sexual metaphor) （http://controversies.msa.ac.uk）