Andrew Lih has sent us a set of photos of Office for Metropolitan Architecture’s Television Cultural Centre in Beijing, which was destroyed by fire last night (via Dezain).
The 40-storey building is adjacent to the China Central Television Headquarters (see our earlier story).
The almost-complete building was due to open this May and contain a hotel, theatre and studios. It was used for the 2008 Olympics but due to open officially later this year.
The structure was set on fire by stray fireworks fired by revellers celebrating Chinese New Year.
February 10th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
Wow, Catastrophic damage. How sad.
February 10th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
I am pretty sure Maarten Baas has nothing to do with this piece.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
This is fantastic! A perfect monument to the Boom and Bust era.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Finally! Some real pictures. If you look on the NY Times website, they’re now saying that China TV is confessing to staging illegal pyrotechnics too close to the unfinished building.
I bet Remmy has been crying himself to sleep
February 10th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Shit!
February 10th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
SAD
February 10th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
hurray….build it again rem
i feel with the family of the dead guy, but the rest of the story is so funny.
February 10th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
“Television Cultural Centre by OMA” title sounds like this would be the actually designed piece… ((
February 10th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
guess the sprinkler system was switched off….either that or the firework was a missile that went astray.
February 10th, 2009 at 7:13 pm
You would think that after all these centuries of dealing with fireworks, the Chinese would have learned to make a building proof against a firecracker!
It seems that they have unfortunately been sucked into all the bad ideas of western architecture.
February 10th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I thought it was a conceptual rendering at first.
February 10th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
No words to describe that. What are they going to do now?
Demolish the all building? The structure must have been affected…..
February 10th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
Hope no one was injured. Did you guys read about the fire in Australia? I wonder since they have bush fires regularly, don’t they planner require buildings to use fire proof materials, etc?
February 10th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
hi Ash… “the fire”??? which one?? and what material do you suggest we build houses of??
February 10th, 2009 at 8:34 pm
I like this more than CCTV. It is the big shock for me!
R.I.P.
It was so beautiful building…
February 10th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
How close was that building to being finished? This is a HUGE wake up call to anyone working or staying in a modern Chinese building. Obviously HUGE corners were cut to have caused such shocking and outrageous damage. This was fortunate that only one man parrished. Its impressive that the building hasn’t collapsed and that was all that burned. And to think of that happening a year from now in a booked hotel…
Communism and building codes; they never mix. (See North Korea)
February 10th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Apparently the building is fine, structurally. The plan is to repair the damage at a cost upwards of $200M U.S.
February 10th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Spectacular, hein Rem?
February 10th, 2009 at 9:18 pm
I can’t remember another case of a new building destroyed that way… In a way it is like a Titanic of architecture. I liked it more than the CCTV, too.
God save the Bird’s Nest…
February 10th, 2009 at 9:19 pm
it has nothing to do with any OMA PR strategy. am i right?
…iconspiracy
February 10th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Wow. the power of fire..Truely amazing. What about the sprinklersss???
February 10th, 2009 at 9:46 pm
looks more interesting than before…
this building has a story to tell
February 10th, 2009 at 9:53 pm
Although I am a very big OMA fan,
I must say I enjoy every image of this.
It is just unseen drama, enormously spectacular but sad.
STunning…
February 10th, 2009 at 10:08 pm
“Architektur muss brennen” quote by Coop Himmelb(l)au
I am very sorry for the fireman, but it was a damn ugly building….
February 10th, 2009 at 10:18 pm
Architecture Must Burn ! – probably not literally though
February 10th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
according to the NYtimes the building went into flames so quickly and so broadly mainly because 1. the sprinkler system was not yet functioning and 2. the foam insulation was still exposed and had not been covered by other fire-resistant layers.
so it seems like it was a product of bad timing and bad judgment from some new years revelers.
and it was one of the few OMA buildings that I liked!
February 10th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
man.. soon half of the new projects in the world will be designed with a surface of burned concrete.
damn you OMA, and your impact on world architecture!!!
February 10th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Sure they’ll re-build it!!!! Why not!?? it’s a communist country, the labor is FREE!
February 10th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Just a note to Michael who thinks that this was a problem with communism and building codes: unh unh. Capitalism is what causes corners to be cut, building codes to be cheated on, and shoddy materials to be used. After all, how’s the contractor going to get rich otherwise?
I am sorry that there is no structural damage: the building is more interesting as a damaged artefact than it ever was as a space for human beings to use. Knocking it down would be a favour to all who live and work in the area.
February 10th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
happy chinese new year!!!
February 10th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
there’s gonna be a royal commission into the bushfires here in australia, including a revue on building policy for houses and structures in “bushfire” regions. so they’ll be looking at making houses more fireproof and installing “bunkers” like those used in hurricane affected regions. interesting times ahead….
February 11th, 2009 at 12:21 am
It looks better than ever.
February 11th, 2009 at 12:57 am
Stupidy will never die… hein marie-noelle
February 11th, 2009 at 1:17 am
“I thought it was a conceptual rendering at first.”
yeah, me too.
February 11th, 2009 at 1:36 am
.
Hello this is Morgan Geist,
Truly a sad moment.
With each grand achievement we create the opportunity for a grand disaster.
February 11th, 2009 at 1:52 am
this is very sad…..disaster of the century!!
February 11th, 2009 at 2:02 am
Unfortunately, a fireman died after inhaling toxic fumes and 6 others in hospital.
I also read Aiweiwei’s blog 09.02.10 ‘CCTV self-destruction’ :
… … The full moon last night indeed was most beautiful one in 52 years. (self interpretation)
February 11th, 2009 at 2:06 am
It’s pity to everyone, especially us, architects. I had similar situation where my designed house was burned during a bushfire.
February 11th, 2009 at 2:09 am
When I was growing up in Brick Lane, warehouses regularly went up in flames in the middle of the night.. affectionally referred to as ‘jewish lightening’
February 11th, 2009 at 4:07 am
wtf??? also nice stucture:)
February 11th, 2009 at 4:11 am
to the person who made a comment about the australian bushfires – I encourage you to read more carefully about what exactly a firestorm entails. If you do so you will realise that in most cases even fire retardant materials can’t protect individuals from the smoke and radiant heat of a wall of fire up to 40metres high and moving at 30 or 40 metres a second.
then please feel free to suggest a low cost fire and heat proof material that is suitable for transportation to remote regions and requires little or no water in its installation.
if, as i suspect, you cant, please refrain from making posts on an design website that insult the memory of those hundreds of people who died in my state.
February 11th, 2009 at 5:53 am
The fire at TVCC is a real tragedy. I hope that we don’t discover that the extent of the fire was due to the excessive cutting of corners, but I have a feeling we will. The symbolism evoked by this sad event is obviously writ large and this could very well become the centre-fold for “the end” of the decade of greed…
February 11th, 2009 at 6:40 am
Just because we are Chinese does not mean we are good at building walls, and similarly just because we are Chinese we are fireproof. Conclusive proof to the idea that no matter how advanced man kind becomes, we are always going to have the same problems, namely, stupidity.
February 11th, 2009 at 7:22 am
I bet Rem has watched and enjoyed every moment of its burning, thinking of new theories on China,the shift of power to the east,communism,etc.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:06 am
my deepest sympathies go to the builders who created tvcc
February 11th, 2009 at 8:07 am
wow, that must be one damn huge fire, to burn almost the whole facade like that.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:09 am
…’disaster of the century’??? Don’t make me laugh.
February 11th, 2009 at 8:09 am
some of you leaving idiotic comments /
think about t.p.o. to crack smart ass jokes
February 11th, 2009 at 8:23 am
What’s all this about the commies, when you look at the appaling state of the “infrastructure” that was rebuilt post iraq by the Americans (they didnt even need fire to show their flaws)? There was even congress inquiry into how billions of tax payer dollars were used to build such crap, some of the finished buildings couldnt even be used by the iraqis.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/27/AR2006092702134_pf.html
February 11th, 2009 at 8:32 am
true architecture
February 11th, 2009 at 9:13 am
i suppose the conclusion is that unfinished buildings are simply very vulnerable to fire
February 11th, 2009 at 9:34 am
loving the destruction !
February 11th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Would be better to rule by fire norms during projecting this building.
February 11th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
FANTASTIC!!!
February 11th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
looks likes a thesis project from the bartlett now…
February 11th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
Yeah, what about fire protection ? is it possible this kind of masterpiece did’t have effective fire protection vs everything that can cause fire ??? to bad for my faith in great works …
February 11th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
i was standing there for one hour watching it burn.
it was a beautiful building.
and it will rise again.
February 11th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I apologize, Boo, you are correct. It is Communist branded Capitalism in China that is at fault. The Chinese use propaganda like the North Koreans, Dubai, Venezuela and several African nations to build their stage pieces to show off their wealth. It’s like a modern spaghetti western. When the wind comes, the set facades fall down. Yet, even with all the free slave labor used, they still manage to build horribly inept and unsafe structures.
Ever try to propose, design and have something built in the United States? How about Japan? The UK? France? Germany? Australia? There is a reason the cost of building is so outrageously expensive. Good management doesn’t come cheap. You can’t just throw a ton of money at a problem and walk away. Someone must be there to inspect and shut down any violations, and this building seemed to have plenty. There is a reason for all the layers in a civil department that review and examine a building before and during its completion.
Again, I would highly scrutinize any large, fast built project in any of those state controlled countries. They don’t cut a few corners, they neglect them entirely. I would go venture further to state how doubtful I am that only one firefighter died given the history of news in China.
February 11th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
in regards to the people thinking this was shotty construction or are wondering why it wasn’t fireproofed, you have to remember it wasn’t finished. Even if the fireproofing was added at that point, which might be true since it is still standing (a worry when it was on fire), the fire was able to climb the building through the unsealed penetrations all over. I don’t think any windows had been clad yet.
February 11th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
It is quite tragic that a complex, the CCTV and the TCCV, born from the idea of refusing to rebuild the WTC after 9/11, has meet its destruction before its opening.
The WTC would be remembered for its tragic end, the CCTV would be remembered for its tragic beginning. It is a real Tragedy, a complete circle of dramatic events, and I am sure Rem Koolhaas is aware of its deep irony.
February 11th, 2009 at 2:52 pm
Jens, that is a perfect comparison. Parsons is a US based infrastructure firm who designed and built a campus in Iraq. OMA is Dutch based and did their work in China. It seems US investigators inspected and found the project not to spec. So what happened? The article DOESNT say, but it seems that they found problems (big or small) and then had Parsons correct them. New headline: Routine Building Inspection Leads to Corrected Construction.
My college (Eisenmann’s Aronoff) cost $77 million for an addition. This is a large academy so the cost is pretty on par. Look at the CitiGroup Building in NYC. Major structural flaws that could have killed thousands. But it was caught and amended. The CCTV was being used during the olympics without fire suppression in this hotel. There were fireworks during the olympics. CCTV is outrageously lucky in this case.
February 11th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
i prefer the look of this to the student projects on Dezeen. at least it has a bit of character. sort of post-shabby-chic
February 11th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I think its kind of hilarious that less than one day after this tragedy there are so called experts on this site condemning the Chinese worker, building officials, and engineers and their level of building science. Put a sock in it man! Let’s get the forensics report before we fix cause, blame and then condemn an entire country’s engineers and building officials. The building was incomplete. There were construction operations ongoing in the structure. It is extremely debatable that fireworks were even the cause of this blaze – construction phase fires are often the most devastating as many systems are either incomplete or decomissioned to allow work to proceed. It must be regarded as a MIRACLE of engineering that the structure withstood the intensity of that blaze for hours and hours and hours without sucumbing to collapse. Get off of your high horses and let building science have a chance to sort out this tragedy.
February 11th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
High horse? Fireworks debate? No, this is another milestone in the history of ethics in Architecture. This should be up there with Pruit-Igoe and the Montreal Olympic Stadium. Expensive design, cheap construction, poor management, no rules. Besides, I don’t have to speculate on the cause, CCTV apologized for causing it. It is how this happened so quickly and so devastatingly. I am also in no way protecting my own country for their responsibilities in the industry, I am simply stating this is a formula for failure to come.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/4579647/China-TV-admits-it-burned-down-new-HQ-with-illegal-fireworks-display.html
February 11th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
im surprised that it didnt implode after an hour an a half….
February 11th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
When Jake and Dinos heard the news that ‘Hel’l was on fire, they laughed, and set to work making a bigger and better version. OMA should do the same.
February 11th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
Men! This is sad! Especially given the times we are in! This is a lost for everyone but there is nowhere else to go but up! As hard as this sounds, the team has to count their loses and move on! You never know, the ruins could be creatively incorporated in a new design.
This being said, the best part of this story is that we in the design profession learn from this. We cannot get away with designing temporal buildings with inferior materials anymore. A building of this size and civic presence should be build to last. Are you telling me that in this day and age, with the event of the WTC and technology we have today, buildings of this significance can still easily burn down in a flash?
February 11th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
Kim, great comment.
It was always the weak building.
February 11th, 2009 at 7:44 pm
See lots ugly brits here how they laughing what happen in China, Bunch of money here talking to eachother…
February 11th, 2009 at 9:54 pm
it looks coool, i thought its rendering…its beautiful…i love it this way
February 11th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
Indeed, it will be very interesting to see how they deal with it architecturally and economically. Is the insurance company gonna pay for it ?!
As a student, i dont really know how it works exactly in this situation.
February 12th, 2009 at 1:18 am
I haven’t seen so many comments on Dezeen.
February 12th, 2009 at 2:17 am
Incredible.
The fire’s heat has brought forth the true beauty of this structure.
February 12th, 2009 at 4:40 am
I mean seriously! It caught on fire because of FIREWORKS? what was the building MADE of? Plywood soaked in gasoline?
February 12th, 2009 at 7:52 am
just put a very clean and sharp-edged glass facade over the destroyed surface could be fine?!
February 12th, 2009 at 9:54 am
… building caught fire, minimal fatality … fire out; it’ll all be sorted by the appropriate department concerned. move along … back to screaming at the screen for most of you.
cc TV
February 12th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
That’ll learn them.
‘apparentley’ the Governmnet ordered all the major construction sites to be closed out in time for the Olympics so that the skyline looked pretty in long shots. Just a shame they weren’t so brisk with those useful inside bits.
February 12th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
Sad; building was very good, especially in section. Look at the bright side, the building could have been full.
February 12th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
sad…poor Rem…but now he might get the chance to improve the design where needed. AND: I suggest: first sprinkler system and than the cladding.
February 12th, 2009 at 2:29 pm
As I cannot link to the flash pages of the project, I suggest dezeen post them, or everyone goes and takes a look at the images of the CCTV Cultural Center on OMA’s projects page. That building was finished. It was completely clad, and all the glass installed. Most of the interior work was complete. I mean for cripes sake, it was to open in May. The before and after images is absolutely astonishing. That is a huge loss for CCTV and a poor image for the rest of the world.
http://www.oma.nl/
February 12th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
In New York, this building would already have collapsed… (WTC)
that s one of the difference between USA and China…
February 12th, 2009 at 2:54 pm
Whatever happened to ethics in archtitecture. How could Rem take on CCTV as a client and still sleep at night? He has done a disservice to the professionalism of our field.
“The disaster brought an unprecedented apology from CCTV, one of the most powerful state organs which is directly controlled by the Communist Party’s propaganda department.
“CCTV is deeply sorry that the fire caused severe losses to state property,” it said, though it did not mention the death of the fireman, a 30-year-old local man.
“CCTV sincerely apologises to people who live nearby for the inconvenience and for the traffic jams (caused by the fire)”.
February 12th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
WTC collapsed from both high heat, vibration and a massive loss of stiffness coupled with added load. The massive holes made by the planes in a building that relied on the stiffness of the exterior caused the WTC’s demise. It was only a matter of time before the steel finally failed completely. Do the math, it is very easy to see how it all happened.
Take the CCTV hotel, triple it’s height, move all structure to the core and the exterior, blow a hole somewhere in it’s skeleton, dump in a thousand gallons of fuel and set it ablaze. Then come back and tell me what happened. It took two massive fuel laden planes to do that damage, and a single illegal firework to gut a hotel.
February 12th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Not a fan of shiny ‘icon’ architecture – looks good toasted tho
February 12th, 2009 at 5:38 pm
It looks like a dilapidated Communist era monument to government power… that’s not what it is, right?
February 12th, 2009 at 8:46 pm
a shame
February 12th, 2009 at 10:58 pm
wooooooohaaaaaaaaa! Ha Ha ha ha haaaaaa!
That is awesome!
Death is a prerequisite of immortality.
Seattle Library next!
Don’t kill the Architect, Kill their work.
February 13th, 2009 at 1:41 am
Well, it ’s time to think about the fire safety of high-rise!
February 13th, 2009 at 4:14 am
In New York, this building would already have collapsed…
Well, the fire from a full tank of jet fuel is just a tad hotter than that of exposed insulation…maybe you should do a little homework.
This…is a bummer, and a horrific waste. It does bring up an interesting question: buildngs under construction, with exposed flammable materials, are clearly at greater fire risk (duh). It seems that an operable sprinkler system would have at least mitigated the damage. I wonder if there will be a change in construction codes for high-rises in response to this, such that fire protection / sprinkler systems must be installed and operable either in phase throughout construction of successive floors / finishes.
To all of those gloating over this destruction…I guess I understand the gallows humor. If you can’t laugh, well hell. But for those of you who truly find joy in this? Maybe you should go see a doctor, or troll something other than a design blog.
February 13th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
It is said that the civil policemen failed to stop the peope(from clients) who light the fireworks. Other wise it won’t happen.
Well, another quest is:
the flame was so high, is there certain design defect?
I’ve taken certain photos from inside before its completion, the central lobby is hight and spacious. what’s the problem with design anyway? this should be asked by professionals.
February 13th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
MAARTEN BAAS, eat your heart out…
February 13th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
the complete waste of nature.
a decadent building wich need so many material for sow few m2 and then burns down. if all architects would build like rem or zaha, the earth would be even faster wasted. I ‘m also not very ecology, but the “great architects” of our time are a not at all searching the wright answers for the problems of our times.
They don’t give the good example. i hope rem will stop soon making this type of buildings
February 13th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
According to several chinese media, the insurance of TVCC is about ¥ 1,532,000,000 (RMB), approximately £ 155 million with current rate. What is the next decision from CCTV? Surely now more mainland people would start to realise the nature of this giant media from the government & i guess such dramatic fire would also mark the progress on China’s journey toward democracy.
February 13th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
‘a decadent building wich need so many material for sow few m2 and then burns down. if all architects would build like rem or zaha, the earth would be even faster wasted. I ‘m also not very ecology, but the “great architects” of our time are a not at all searching the wright answers for the problems of our times.
They don’t give the good example. i hope rem will stop soon making this type of buildings’
Absolutely agree. absolutely
February 13th, 2009 at 10:25 pm
Es muy triste… sin querer se va a transformar en el paradigma de la arquitectura de consumo, aunque no por voluntad del hombre… destruido sin ser inaugurado.
and all those comments saying “that’s a beauty” … that’s stupid! It’s a building!!! and you like it or not, It’s architecture!
February 13th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
sublime calamity …
February 13th, 2009 at 11:54 pm
ultimate piece of art! sorry for consequences but biggers happening ever. The next burning man of Black Rock Desert of Nevada.
February 14th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
I feel really bad…
February 14th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
this is what i call hot architecture – they should keep it, it looks better this way than it would ever be when finished
February 14th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
and how would you like your OMA building? rare or well done?
February 15th, 2009 at 7:46 pm
What material was the building made of?
how could simple firework light the whole building???
February 16th, 2009 at 10:13 am
…..a ghosty beauty.
February 17th, 2009 at 4:49 am
..beautifool building?
February 18th, 2009 at 7:07 am
wow……MADE IN CHINA…….
February 18th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Looks absolutely stunning. Batman movie, anyone?
February 19th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
Great comment CRISTINA! Glad to hear there’s still some level headed people in this blog!
March 11th, 2009 at 5:52 am
how upsetting!
December 29th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Anyone that know what will happen now? will they demolish the building? rebuild it? another design or the same?