Triumph of architecture, or pain in the ....?

[Tiassa]

What do you see?

Start with this:

China Central Television building (left), designed by Rem Koolhaas
(image via Slog)​

And then click on the picture or this link. Either works.

From the latter—and quoted at the former:

The China Central Television headquarters is a 6.45 million square foot complex that involves twin leaning towers connected by two massive sections in midair. Designed by Rem Koolhaas, it's an amazing feat of engineering and architecture. But when CCTV proposed that they call it Zhichuang (meaning Knowledge Window), Chinese netizens saw its homophone, "Hemorrhoids."

(Chow)

I admit the building appears to be something of an architectural feat, but whether or not it's a triumph is a separate question that I cannot, at this time, answer. Still, though, I find it hilarious that "knowledge window" and "hemorrhoids" are homophonic in Chinese. How the hell does that work?

Oh, right. That's linguistics. Anyway, you want a corner office? Or maybe something in the lower floors? Or, maybe, how about a different building altogether? I have a mild fear of heights, even when I'm caged in and can't fall off the edge. Still, I think I'd probably find working in the connecting section somewhat unnerving.
____________________

Notes:

Chow, Elaine. "China's CCTV Headquarters Trying to Shake 'Hemorrhoids' Nickname". Gizmodo. December 3, 2008. http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2008/12/c...s_trying_to_shake_hemorrhoids_nickname-2.html

See Also:

Mudede, Charles. "The Building of Hemorrhoids". Slog. December 4, 2008. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/12/04/the_building_of_hemorrhoids

 

[Roman]

I don't see that at all. I think it's a really cool looking building. The hole in it should also make it harder for terrorists to fly planes into.

 

[Asguard]

actually roman it would probably be easier (if china actually HAD that problem). If im right on how its designed it requires both buildings to be "falling" into each other to hold it up. This means if you structually weaken one building they BOTH come down. Hit it from the inward facing side so the explosion forces one out and its game over for both

Potentually dangerious type of design if you get earthquakes

 

[spidergoat]

This is just another example of the monstrosities created all over the planet by "starchitects". These buildings fail to relate to the culture of the nation, the style common in the neighborhood, or the victims destined to inhabit their cold concrete and glass boxes.

 

[Baron Max]

This is just another example of the monstrosities created all over the planet by "starchitects". These buildings fail to relate to the culture of the nation, the style common in the neighborhood, or the victims destined to inhabit their cold concrete and glass boxes.

Even having been an architect most of my life, I have to agree with you, Spider. Many of those "monstrosities" have received awards from other architects, but are often far, far from the realm of "real" architecture.

Baron Max

 

[James R]

This is just another example of the monstrosities created all over the planet by "starchitects". These buildings fail to relate to the culture of the nation, the style common in the neighborhood, or the victims destined to inhabit their cold concrete and glass boxes.

I'm not so sure. I think this building may very well relate to the "new" culture of China.

It's innovative and interesting.

I think that some people think anything new is bad.

 

[Tiassa]

On Qingyun Ma

Source: FastCompany.com
Link: http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/131/journey-to-the-west.html
Title: "What Hitoshi Abe and Qingyun Ma Are Teaching the Next Generation of American Architects", by Carolina A. Miranda
Date: December, 2008 (#131)

It seems relevant. Qingyun Ma is presently the dean of the architecture department at the University of Southern California.

One of Ma's core ideas -- the impermanence of architecture -- has particular appeal for anyone who would be happy to see Los Angeles' relentless sprawl bulldozed. Ma, 43, views today's Western architecture as a descendant of the Greco-Roman tradition, which is all about building in stone and erecting things that are intended to last forever. (Which makes it all the more amusing that he's an occasional collaborator of Koolhaas, creating mind-bending buildings, such as Beijing's CCTV headquarters, that look as if they might fall down.) Clearly a son of modern China, he questions the West's preservationist reflex. "Everything has a life cycle, as should buildings," he says. "Preservation is an action in sacrifice of future possibilities. The future needs its own space."

(Miranda)

And Charles Mudede, over at Slog, considers this idea:

This is all very strange. The West is about permanence and the East is about impermanence? The West as a sign of tradition, preservation, and the past; the East as a sign of change, innovation, and the future? The West, remembering; the East, forgetting? If this is so, if Ma is right, then things have changed dramatically. Ma's coding of the West/East situation is completely new. Until recently, what coded China was the dauntingly long history of its language, culture, architecture, and art. Europe signaled the new; China the ancient. Even the Greeks coded the West/East binary in these terms. In the Politics, Aristotle located the Greeks between stable/intelligent but spiritless Asians and the unstable/instinctual but full of spirit Europeans. The Greeks were perfect.

As long as there has been an idea of the West, there has been the idea that the East is something older and more orderly. When did the complete transformation of this type of coding and decoding happen?

(Mudede)

On the one hand, I recognize certain elements of what Mudede is referring to with the idea that the East is something older and more orderly, but he may well be overlooking a couple things. The next paragraph in Miranda's article reads:

The wisdom of razing and rebuilding depends largely on context and execution, of course. Urban renewal failed in some U.S. cities, for instance, and won't Beijing suffer by replacing its centuries-old hutongs with generic apartment buildings? Yet Ma doesn't argue that we should jettison the past. His Thumb Island project near Shanghai modernizes the ancient Chinese reverence for landscape. Grass-carpeted knolls created by the undulating roof over a community center pair with a nearby lake, paying homage to the traditional coupling of mountain and water.

(Miranda)

Especially in the case of China, which in some ways still considers itself revolutionary in a context pertaining to Marx and Mao Zhedong, Asia seems to be physically, tangibly, scrambling toward the future while struggling to preserve its cultural heritage. Indeed, generic apartment buildings in Beijing will denigrate some aspect of China's cultural wealth, but therein lies the challenge. This is why we should not "jettison" the past. To the other, neither should we cling to it. Evolution is a constant transformation, and the transitional periods between any two seemingly unique expressions of a common lineage will include identifiable aspects of both incarnations. It could be that Mudede, whose philosophical ramblings I enjoy—and this one is no different—is assigning the wrong context to the values he is considering. I don't know, though. It just seems to me that in psychospiritually traditional cultures, it is very hard to identify the change in its physical manifestations.

Because, to the other, China is marching forward, so to speak, even racing to catch up with the twenty-first century. There is a lot of modernization going on, and much still to take place. But that does not mean everything must go. Of Qingyun Ma at USC and Hitoshi Abe at UCLA, Miranda writes, "The hiring of these two architects hasn't instantly transformed the curricula or culture of either school."

Nor would—or can—they instantly transform such deeply-rooted cultures as Japan and China.
____________________

Notes:

Mudede, Charles. "The New Empire of the Signs". Slog. December 4, 2008. http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2008/12/04/the_new_empire_of_the_signs

 

[S.A.M.]

I like it. I think its cool. They should have painted it white and red.

 

[Asguard]

Sam in that case you should see jeff kennets "yellow peril"

 

[S.A.M.]

Lovely

Its what I miss since I left the Middle East, the surprising architecture and sculptures that suddenly come upon you.

Can you imagine coming down this highway, looking up and seeing how its held up?

 

[Asguard]

yuck, i HATE it. What ever happened to nice trees and bushes along freeways instead of phalanx symbols. My favorite piece of art is out the front of the old museum (and library, now it is only the state library) in Melbourne. Its like the statue of liberty from planet of the apes where just her head is sticking up. This is just the corner of the library sticking up like a small pyramid out of the concrete. I have always loved the implication that everything we do is temporary

 

[S.A.M.]

What a fuddy duddy you are. I like innovation.

 

[Asguard]

this is my favorite art

 

[S.A.M.]

Thats actually very nice. Btw, that picture I put up is the road from Taif to Jeddah, its the desert and the mountain was cut away to make that road. Not too many trees there.

[that cable you see is a cable car that takes you from the top of teh mountain to a sort of water park below].

 

[Asguard]

thats the back of it

these two are of the easten freeway for comparision

Dont ask me what this nut is doing but look at all the green in the background

 

[cosmictraveler]

Innovation would be finding ways to downsize the worlds population so that we can have more parks and less buildings. I don't mind buildings when they are needed but many buildings I've worked in aren't really needed at all and remain three quarters empty after they are built! There's a new "green" building trying to take hold to try and build edifices so that they are more environmentally friendly. I'd like to see that more often employed when the designers are coming up with their ideas. Many building today are only used for less than 50 years and then torn down to make way for something new and improved. I liked it better when buildings were made to last for 100's of years.

 

[S.A.M.]

Whats the Australian desert look like?

Here's what the Saudis have instead of trees:

A camel sculpture [post modern]

Other Jeddah sculptures:

http://www.theweekbehind.com/graphics/INSIDE ART/saudiblog/Jeddah sculpture.jpg

http://susieofarabia.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/dscf4507.jpg

I like this one:

 

[James R]

Sam in that case you should see jeff kennets "yellow peril"

Actually, the term "yellow peril" was applied to this (real title "Vault"):

yuck, i HATE it. What ever happened to nice trees and bushes along freeways instead of phalanx symbols.

Perhaps you mean "phallic symbols".

I don't see any major problem with those sticks on an angle.

My favorite piece of art is out the front of the old museum (and library, now it is only the state library) in Melbourne. Its like the statue of liberty from planet of the apes where just her head is sticking up. This is just the corner of the library sticking up like a small pyramid out of the concrete. I have always loved the implication that everything we do is temporary

Yeah, I like that one, too.

 

[S.A.M.]

Actually, the term "yellow peril" was applied to this (real title "Vault"):

Thats very nice. Whats it supposed to represent?

 

[James R]

Another piece of public art from Melbourne: "Three Businessmen who brought their own lunch"