Buildings
OMA's CCTV Project May Be on Hold
(archrecord.construction.com - 08/02/04)
By Daniel Elsea
Reports indicate that the Chinese government
has suspended 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 in China.
Many critics regard the $730 million project as too expensive
and unnecessary. It has been widely publicized that Wen Jiabao,
China’s Premier, found the large-scale facility for the
Chinese state broadcaster a waste of public resources. This,
in light of a recent directive issued by the State Council
curbing China’s heated construction boom. Wen is the
head of the Council. The Reuters news agency reports the project
has been cancelled, as does Dongfeng Zhoukan, a magazine closely
linked to Xinhua, the state news agency. Meanwhile officials
at CCTV acknowledge the project’s status is at the very
least up in the air. Officials at OMA, meanwhile, could not
be reached for comment.
|
