CCTV HQ Bldg.

March 22, 2009

I have written extensively on my blog about the China Central Television (CCTV) Headquarters complex of buildings in Beijing's Central Business District (CBD). To put it mildly, I am not a fan of the client, though I have, obviously, been overwhelmed by the architectural/building project. Since December 4, 2007 I have been taking photos from every possible street angle from the surrounding neighborhoods. This has been a controversial project in Beijing, with very little popular support among the people of this great city. When the Television Culture Center (TVCC), the north building of the complex - aka The Mandarin Oriental Beijing Hotel - spectacularly burned on the night of February 9, 2009, there were very few sympathetic Beijingers. The fire was apparently ignited by fireworks which the CCTV officials, in their profound ignorance and arrogance, had illegally commissioned against the strong advice of both Beijing police and fire officials. But they are CCTV, the muscled arm of the State Ministry of Propaganda, and no person or law was about to stop them. They had cameras set up at several locations around the site to capture the over-the-top display of fireworks. So, not only did they sensationally burn their own building, but they filmed it too. I imagine that the film may have been already destroyed or sequestered in an unreachable vault somewhere, to keep it out of the hands of the insurance companies, since it was so utterly self-incriminating. A firefighter died in the blaze, air pollution levels in Beijing rose dramatically, no one knows how many people lost jobs in an already downturned economy, and now there is a charred hulk standing as constant reminder of who CCTV actually is. If it wasn't so immensely pathetic it would be funny. This project as metaphor of emerging China continues to evolve. I thought that I was done with it, since the Mandarin Oriental was about to open and the CCTV HQ Bldg. is also scheduled to open later in the fall this year. But in the oddest way, this fire has given me a whole new angle on things, a whole new portfolio of photographs. Thanks CCTV! But please, try not to burn down the other, more overshadowing building. The people in Beijing and the surrounding countryside can't stand much more of your pollution.

--jg

Absurdity, Allegory and China

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