CCTV

 HEADQUARTERS  
 
OMA  /  Rem  Koolhaas  +  Ole  Scheeran          
Beijing,  China  
2004  -­‐  2012    
 
DESCRIPTION  
 
•  Located  in  Beijing’s  Central  Business  District  and  visible  from  most  of  
Beijing,  the  shape  changes  depending  on  the  angle  of  view.  

•  Commissioned  in  2002,  construcKon  began  in  2004.  The  target  

compleKon  date  was  for  the  2008  Olympics  but  there  were  delays.  A  
fire  damaged  the  building  in  2009.  It  was  finally  completed  in  2012.  

•  CCTV  is  a  massive  building  that  centralized  into  one  locaKon  all  the  
state  run  TV  faciliKes  that  had  been  scaTered.  At  this  Kme  the  
number  of  TV  channels  increased  dramaKcally  from  16  to  over  200.  All  
media  programming  is  censored  by  the  government.  

•  The  44-­‐story  building  is  

234m  (768  Y)  tall  and  
its  footprint  is  160  x  
160m.  Each  of  2    
towers  is  40m  x  60m.  
The  towers  meet  at  the  
top  in  an  L  shape.  The  
floor  area  is  473,000  
sqm.  
ARCHITECT  +  ENGINEER  
 
•  OMA  won  the  2002  design  compeKKon  
organized  by  Beijing  InternaKonal  Tendering  
Company.  The  founder  of  OMA  is  Rem  
Koolhaas.  OMA  is  internaKonally  known  design  
firm  whose  main  office  is  in  RoTerdam  NL.    
Koolhaas’    codesigner  on  this  project  was  a  
German  partner,  Ole  Scheeren,  who  transferred  
to  Beijing  to  oversee  this  building.  

•  Koolhaas  is  an  intellectual  known  for  several  

architectural  books  including  Delirious  New  
York  and  SMLXL.  He  is  a  Pritzker  Prize  winner.  
He  is  idenKfied  with  postcriKcality,  poliKcs,  and  
the  New  World  Order  (globalizaKon).  

•  The  New  York  Times    described  CCTV  as  this  

century’s  greatest  work  of  architecture.  

•  They  hired  the  best  and  most  experienced  

engineer,  Cecil  Balmond  at  Arup,  to  create  a  
structure  that  would  display  its  stress  paTern  
and  at  the  same  Kme  be  part  of  the  aestheKcs.  
POLITICAL  -­‐  GLOBALIZATION  
 
•  GlobalizaKon  typically  produces  signature  projects  
for  starchitects  and  frequently  are  given  a  
nickname.  Koolhaas  claimed  he  had  developed  a  
new  skyscraper  typology  (a  Möbius-­‐strip-­‐like  
"loop”)  for  the  project  but  it  became  more  of  a  
one-­‐of-­‐a-­‐kind  building  ,  an  eye-­‐catching  icon  and  
monument.    

•  The  Chinese,  offended  by  what  they  consider  its  

sexual  overtones,  named  it  “Big  Pants.”  AYer  this  
project  was  complete  the  Chinese  government  
banned  architecture  with  “strange  shapes.”  
 
•  The  building  fit  Koolhaas’  own  definiKon  of  a  
globalist  project  from  his  1994  text  “GlobalizaKon”  
published  in  S,M,L,XL.  1)    It  is  a  massive  building.  2)  
“it’s  a  hybrid  by  definiKon”  Designed  by  Europeans  
and  built  by  the  Chinese,  it  would  not  have  been  
possible  without  this  collaboraKon.  3)  As  the  
primary  designer,  Koolhaas,  who  is  Dutch,  was  
relaKvely  unfamiliar  with  Chinese  culture,    leading  
to  the  shape  faux  pas.  
POLITICALLY  
 
•  The  tower  is  the  headquarters  of  China  Media  
Group.  Koolhaas  was  criKcized  for  glorifying  the  
main  propaganda  arm  of  the    Chinese  communist  
government.  The  government  aTempts  to  control  
its  people  through  media  and  does  not  allow  free  
speech.  Subversives  are  imprisoned  or  worse.  It  
also  surveils  its  ciKzens.  This  size  and  shape  of  this  
project  expresses    massive  power,  both  to  the  
world  and  to  its  own  people.  

•  In  2002,  Rem  Koolhaas  accepted  this  commission  

rather  than  enter  the  WTC/  Ground  Zero  
compeKKon.  Due  to  the  rapid  industrial  
modernizaKon  of  China  and  degree  of  new  
investment,  China  would  soon  be  the  most  
powerful  economy.  Therefore,  this  project  was  
more  relevant  poliKcally  than  building  a  new  WTC  
in  New  York  City.  
 
•  To  jusKfy  his  involvement,  he  claimed  the  “visitor’s  
loop”  he  designed  through  the  building  could  help  
open  and  democraKze  China.  He  wrote  about  his  
choice  in  “Beijing  Manifesto”  published  in  Content,  
2004.  
ECONOMICALLY  
 

•  Client  is  China  Central  Television    

•  Cost  was  600m  euro.  
•  The  Towers  employ  10,000  people  providing  jobs  
to  residents  in  Beijing.  
SOCIALLY  –  INTERIOR  
 
•  It  contains  a  visitor’s  loop  that  was  intended  to  take  the  public  through  the  
building  for  the  first  Kme  the  public  would  enter  the  faciliKes  of  TV  
making.  However  this  was  never  opened  to  the  ciKzens.  This  sequence  
includes  exhibiKon  spaces,  restaurants,  and  viewing  areas  that  climb  up  one  
tower,  cross  the  bridge,  and  descend  the  other.  
 
•  The  public  spaces  inside  the  building  like  the  main  lobby  with  mulKple  stairs  
create  an  open  plan  and  allows  people  to  maintain  constant  eye  contact  with  
one  another    

•  The  public  spaces  inside  the  building  like  the  main  lobby  with  its  mulKple  
stairs  create  an  open  plan  and  allows  people  to  maintain  constant  eye  contact  
with  one  another.  

The  Visitor’s  Loop  is  in  orange  

SOCIALLY  -­‐  EXTERIOR  
 
•  The  building  is  in  an  urban  situaKon  but  is  surrounded  by  walls.  
It’sbase  does  not  engage  with  the  city  on  the  pedestrian  level.    

•  Its  media  park  was  intended  to  create  a  semng  for  public  
entertainment  but  they  are  fenced  off.  The  green  space  
connects  this  building  with  its  neighbor,  the  Television  Cultural  
Center.  

•  The  tower  has  views  of  the  financial  district,  the  Forbidden  City  
and  the  rest  of  Beijing.    In  the  canKlever  are  3  walk-­‐on  glass  
portals  (holes  in  the  floor)  which  allow  one  to    look  hundreds  of  
feet  down  with  no  visible  means  of  support.  
TECHNOLOGICALLY  
 
•  To  make  the  loop,  the  engineers  had  to  design  a  
construcKon  plan  for  two  towers  supported  in  60°  
to  90°  bend  in  its  top  and  boTom,  to  meet  at  the  
top.  The  towers  were  built  in  the  opposite  diagonal  
corners  of  the  160  x  160  meters  footprint.  

•  The  75  meter  canKlever  was  an  impressive  engineer  

achievement.  

•  The  primary  structure  is  a  diagrid  exoskeleton,  a  

conKnuous  structural  tube  of  columns,  beams  and  
braces  around  the  enKre  skin  of  the  building.  

•  The  unique  parts  of  the  diagrid  paTern  are  a  precise  

diagram  of  the  stresses  in  the  building.  At  the  same  
Kme  they  are  part  of  the  aestheKcs.  
 
•  This  would  not  have  been  possible  without  
computer  soYware  simulaKons  of  the  stress  loads.  
TECHNOLOGICALLY  
 
•  To  make  the  loop,  the  engineers  had  to  design  a  
construcKon  plan  for  two  leaning  towers  with  a  90°  
bend  to  meet  at  both  top  and  boTom.  The  towers  
were  built  in  the  opposite  diagonal  corners  of  the  
160  x  160  meters  footprint,  forming  an  L.  

•  The  75  meter  canKlever  was  an  impressive  engineer  

achievement.  

•  The  primary  structure  is  a  diagrid  exoskeleton,  a  

conKnuous  structural  tube  of  columns,  beams  and  
braces  around  the  enKre  skin  of  the  building.  

•  The  unique  parts  of  the  diagrid  paTern  are  a  precise  

diagram  of  the  stresses  in  the  building.  At  the  same  
Kme  they  are  part  of  the  aestheKcs.  
 
•  This  would  not  have  been  possible  without  
computer  soYware  simulaKons  of  the  stress  loads.  

•  The  structure  also  had  to  be  designed  to  withstand  

earthquakes.  
ENVIRONMENTALLY  
 
•  Energy  use  for  such  a  massive  TV  and  broadcasKng  
company  is  high.  

•  CCTV  makes  use  of  energy-­‐efficient  climate  control  

systems.  In  the  winter,  direct  cold  air  from  outside  is  
used  to  keep  producKon  spaces  cool.  In  the  summer  
a  chilled  water/ice  storage  system  is  used.  An  area  
wide  grey  water  distribuKon  network  is  used  for  
toilet  flushing  and  cooling  tower  make  up.  

•  The  building’s  envelope  provides  natural  daylighKng,    

high  thermal  insulaKon  and  protects  from  
overheaKng  and  glare.  It  features  high  performance  
glass  panels  with  a  sun  shading  of  70  percent  open  
ceramic  frit,  creaKng  the  soY  silver-­‐grey  color.  

•  The  large  landscaped  area  underneath  the  tower  

absorbs  stormwater  and  cleans  the  air.