Saturday, 10. November 2007
Topic: ART - on November 10, 2007 at 11:06:00 AM CET
M. C. Escher's favorite building
Five years ago, Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren unveiled their radical design for the new China Central Television Tower here to a disbelieving public. Even their client wasn't sure it could be built, they say.
Formed like a misshapen square doughnut, the building is full of technical challenges, with two towers leaning inward at sharp inclines that will be joined to form one continuous loop.
There were no building codes for this convoluted sort of structure, which Messrs. Koolhaas and Scheeren conceived as a challenge to the notion that all skyscrapers should point skyward. (Complicating matters: Beijing lies in an earthquake zone.)
Now, the moment is fast approaching for a crucial part of the tower's construction. In a matter of weeks, workers will construct the floors that will join the two leaning towers, producing the building's unusual shape.
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