CCTV TV station HQ

The new headquarters for China Central Television is an iconic building, combining the entire process of TV making - administration, production, broadcasting - into a single loop of interconnected activity. Two structures rise from a common production platform. One is dedicated to broadcasting, the second to services, research and education. They merge at the top to create a cantilevered headquarters for management. The result is a truly 3D experience. Before the towers were linked, they were prone to movement due to the extremes of hot and cold weather in Beijing, which posed a great challenge to Arup engineers. Though the triangulated tube structure has been used before, the scale and form in this building are unrivalled. OMA won an international design competition with a new typology, competing with the conventions of regular skyscrapers. The building would also stand out on the horizon, on the day it opens and into the future, when a forest of skyscrapers emerge in Beijing.