A New Home for the "Faulty Towers" of Chinese Propaganda Machine
Just like the classic British comedy was set in a slightly crazy hotel,
this temple of propaganda and Olympic Games TV coverage is being built
in the middle of a pretty nutty ideological and political situation, on
a fantastically tight schedule.
Everybody may have a different
take on what China should and should not do, but one thing is clear -
they are doing their darnedest to appear the best in the Olympic
spotlight. We've heard about their desperate attempt to make Peking an
ecologically cleaner city (part of which is... a massive killing of
cats, no less!) and we may doubt if they're really going to clean up
their act - but they certainly choose eye-catching designs when it
comes to architecture!
Since Office for Metropolitan
Architecture (OMA) was awarded the contract on December 20, 2002 - the
concept sketches were busily brought to life in the middle of Peking
(Beijing). On this page you'll see the most recent construction stages.
But first, here are some original visions:
Check out the huge screen showing live Olympics coverage:
Two
high-rise buildings at the height of 230 meters are inclined toward
each other, connected by spectacular glass and beam structures
(Japanese company designed the irregular grid on the building's facade)
The
angle of "falling" of these towers is pretty significant: 10 degrees
incline - twice the "falling angle" of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Depending
on which tower you'll be working in, your political news coverage will
lean significantly, either to the left, or to the right... just kidding.
