“Inside the Tower” – China’s Landmark goes on Air
Initially featured by arte TV as part of “Metropolis” magazine. Available in German only.
In Delirious New York (1978), the “Retroactive Manifesto” for Manhattan, Rem Koolhaas recounts the story of the skyscraper. That is, a story of towers that became higher and higher. A story which doesn’t take place in the Western hemisphere any longer but is rather continued in Russia and China. However, the buildings which recently originated from that race for ultimate height turned out to be rather mundane and little innovative.
Subsequently, for the design of the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, a group of architects led by Koolhaas tried to reinvent the skyscraper. As a result, the CCTV building, with its moderate height of 234 meters, stands out not only by its impressive structure. Moreover, the building represents a new interpretation of the skyscraper typology.