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We all know that buildings don't always turn out like the renderings. Last-minute changes and real-life materials can all cause discrepancies between the vision and reality of a project. In our weekly Flash Forward Friday feature, we take a look at how different projects stack up.
Rather than soaring straight upwards, Beijing's China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters turns, dances, and spreads outward at multiple heights and angles. Two towering volumes rise from a production studio plinth, each with a distinct use: one houses editing areas and offices while the other serves as a news broadcasting space. A massive cantilevered bridge, hosting administrative uses, joins the two towers at an intersecting point diagonally opposite the building's position on the ground. The facade is composed of a silver-grey glass and a web of triangulated steel tubes. This diagrid pattern reflects the building's internal structural system — in areas where greater support is required, the pattern becomes denser.
Construction on the OMA-designed development began in 2004, was delayed by a fire in the adjacent Television Cultural Centre, and then officially completed in 2012. Early project renderings showed a lighter tint to the glazing and a white arrangement of steel tubes, compared to the darker materials that were implemented in reality. Still, the structural composition and massing remained true to the artistic depictions, resulting in one of the world's most eye catching and mesmerizing buildings. The 234-metre tower, now a Beijing icon, received praise in architecture circles. It was named the 2013 Best Tall Building Worldwide by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, and quickly became a symbol of China's growth.
We will return next Friday with another comparison!
