CCTV Headquaters

CCTV HEADQUARTERS

Amongst Beijing’s many architecturally significant buildings constructed in the last decade, the CCTV Headquarters manages to impress visitors in a way no other office towers can.

Upon visiting the CCTV Tower in 2011, revered New York Times architecture critic Nicolas Ouroussoff claimed it to thus far be the most architecturally significant construction of the 21^st Century.  But bestowing honors such as this on the building still pales in comparison to standing in its presence. While reaching over 234 meters in height, and anchoring an important site in the still developing Central Business District, the building’s main feature is an enormous cantilever beginning over 100m above the ground.  The cantilever is large enough as to easily fit the entirety of a typical Beijing skyscraper underneath.

Designed by Dutch architects OMA, the building broke ground in 2004 and, except for some interior touches, was finished astonishingly quickly, just two days before the opening ceremonies of Beijing’s 2008 Summer Olympics.

No different than amongst international architects and designers, locals have a love/hate relationship with the building. It is rare to ask any stranger on the street about it without getting a strong opinion one way or the other, whether referencing its size, style or general presence in the area. Many legends have already emerged about the buildings, from the thought that it is structurally unstable and will simply tip over any day to the belief that it was secretly designed to look like a pair of boxer brief underpants. But if the merits of the building are ultimately debatable, history shows it to be undeniable that strong emotions such these coming from all sides are at the foundations of many of the most memorable culturally important buildings ever constructed.