Buildings
Despite Rumors, CCTV Project Will Proceed As Scheduled
(archrecord.construction.com - 08/13/04)
By Daniel
Elsea
Various news sources (including RECORD)
have reported that the Chinese government would likely suspend
the CCTV (China Central Television) Headquarters project in
Beijing. The building, designed by Rem Koolhaas’ Office
for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam, the Netherlands,
has been the subject of controversy. Many Chinese critics,
including some in CCTV and in the Chinese government, regard
the large-scale project as too expensive and unnecessary.
Meanwhile it has been widely publicized that Wen Jiabao, the
country's Premier, found the facility a waste of public resources.
Furthermore China's governing State Council has recently instructed
authorities and developers to curtail many of the country's
large-scale public works.
Yet according to officials and architects
involved with the project, the CCTV project will remain on
schedule. When completed, the broadcast center would be OMA's
largest built work to date, and will cost an estimated $730
million. OMA conceded that there had been issues that related
to the project’s impact on traffic flows within Beijing's
Central Business District, but they were resolved in late
July. Aside from traffic, "there are absolutely no changes,"
says Ole Scheeren, the project leader and one of OMA's four
partners. "We are now preparing for the start of construction
real soon," adds Scheeren. The project is planned to
be complete in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
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