7 years of hard work and efforts, the multi-million dollar modernist architecture unveiled for 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing is now an eyesore. The blaze renderes the 31 story structure unuseable, as the titamium alloy and zinc of the outer structure was burnt!

With 159m height, the building designed by 2 reknown Architect, Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren, house a 1500-seat theater, a large ballroom, digital cinemas, recording studios, exhibition facilities, and a 5-star hotel operated by Mandarin Oriental. Koolhaas and Scheeren won the contract in December 2002. Since then, they were plagued by the usual quarrel about the design and spending. The construction started in 2004 and was expected to be completed in May 2009. It’s original proposal was to open to public for events/entertainment and can be used for filming.

The building was clad in Titanium Zinc alloy, which was introduced to China in 1999, a material that would allow the building to rust with dignity and to endure the passage of time better than other conventional metal Zinc. It’s ideal for high quality architectural cladding of roofs and facades. There’s some debates in Youtube and Twitter about why this building did not collapse.

Image by OMA Architect

From Time Magazine, May 2004:

“Detractors cite the $730 million CCTV project as the ultimate example of the Chinese regime’s tendency to plunder state coffers to glorify its own iron authority and say Koolhaas is an opportunist taking advantage of the country’s unique combination of state power and state capital to realize his own artistic ambitions. Ian Buruma, a writer who is a friend of Koolhaas, wondered aloud in the Guardian, a British newspaper, how the world would have reacted if an architect of Koolhaas’ stature had in the 1970s designed a TV station for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

But Koolhaas, 59, who was one of the first Western architects to study and write about China’s urban explosion, revels in such intellectual tussles. CCTV, he insists, like the mainland itself, ‘is in mutation’ and the building represents an effort to complement the state-owned company’s desire to keep pace with the times. CCTV’s current headquarters is completely closed to the public. Koolhaas’ design, in contrast, includes a public ‘media park’ in and around the base of the building intended to foster more interaction between commissars and the masses. ‘We are engaged,’ he says, ‘with an effort to support within [China's] current situation the forces that we think are progressive and well-intentioned… We’ve given them a building that will allow them to mutate.’”

Popularity: unranked [?]

The clocks across China are counting down to the day in the evening of August 8th, the moment when Beijing will launch the games of the 29th Olympiad. In preparation for its moment in the centre of the world stage, the city has transformed itself from the downager of old to a dazzling young star decked out in a stunning display of architecture haute couture!

Beijing National Stadium aka The Bird Nest is a stadium finished for the Olympic Green will be an icon and new landmark for Beijing.

The stadium will host the opening and closing ceremonies, track and field as well as soccer events. It has a total capacity of 91,000 and 11,000 temporary seating will be removed after the Game, leaving a permanent capacity of 80,000.

Pritzker¹ Prize -winning architects – Herzog & de Meuron Architekten , a Swiss architecture firm founded and headquartered in Basel lead the design.

The structural form of the roof is decsribe as a "nest", an interwoven structural elements of the facade produce a single surface, upon which further elements are arranged in a chaotic manner to blurr the distinction between the primary and secondary structure. The roof is saddle in shaped, and the geomatry is developed from an ellips based. The steel roof, a single 330m long by 220m wide structure weighting 45,000 tonnes is clad with a series of ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) panels on the structure to make the Nest one of the most ingeniously designed "green" buildings in the world. This layer reflects and absorbs sound to maintain the atmosphere in the stadium.

An interwoven structure elements arranged in a chaotic manner.

ETFE
ETFE, a transparent plastic related to Teflon is taking the place of glass and other plastics in many of the most innovatibe buildings being constructed today. It is also known as the material of the future. Compare to glass, it’s 1% the weight, transmit more light, is a better insulator, and cost far less to install. It’s also recycleable, self-cleaning and far tougher, with an estimated 50 years life span.

The nest was build using a polymer called ETFE.

This amazing Nest didn’t come cheaply but still, Beijingers love this building!

Viewing from Google map when it was in construction.

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¹ One of the world’s premier Architecture prizes awarded "irrespective of nationality, race, creed, or ideology. Some of the Laureates are: I.M Pei, Richard Meier, Kenzo tange, Frank Gehry, Tadao Ando, Renzo Piano, Sir Norman Foster, Zaha Hadid…

Popularity: 41% [?]

The sky is not the limit! Shanghai, already crowded with skyscrapers built on the back of robust economic growth and financial, will top up a tallest building in the world at 580m with 118 stories and contain an area of 433,954 sqm. The Shanghai Center, a supertall skyscraper was approved for construction in Pudong area with the concept of “The Dragon” will be scheduled to be complete in 2010, might be in time for the 2010 World Expo.

Glensler, the world’s largest U.S. based Architecture firm, was choosen to lead the design, beating a design by UK based Norman Foster’s firm.

The Shanghai Center stands a chance to be the tallest unless Burj Dubai (636m) is complete first. Dubai is also considering a proposal for a 1,200m Al Burj design by the son of I.M.Pei – Pei Partnership Architects.

With 5.4 billion yuan (US$786 mil) in capital, the proposed super highrise is stunning and beautiful with materials such as concrete, steels and glass exterior gives it a modern look. It is expected to house offices, hotels, shopping malls as well as recreational facilities, complementing the neighbouring buildings – Jin Mao Building and Shanghai World Financial Center. It is expected to further relieve the shortage of office space for foreign institution in Lujiazui area.

Popularity: 31% [?]

The new Shanghai Pudong International Airport Terminal 2, which has advanced facilities and modern design, went into operation on March 26, 2008. It was conceived as a world-class airport, and one of the largest airport buildings in the world, with capacity of 60 million passengers annually.

Today, I’m very exciting as I have the opportunity to travel using this new Terminal.

The 2 terminals are actually connected by 3 indoor corridors (500 meters long) and free shuttle service every 10 mins, from 6am to 9pm. It will take about an hour for international transfer and probably 45 mins for domestic transfer. You should be able to get to your boarding gates by following the signs. It’s pretty easy, and you are advice to allocate additional time for departure.

Facilities

Bank & Currency Exchange

Books and Magazines in different languages are sold here!

Terminal 2 is much larger than the old one, has 4 floors. There are some dining and shopping services, hourly charged hotel rooms and gym facilities at the very top floor, while the other floors are quite standard. Third floor is for International departures, 2nd floor for domestic departures and baggage claim is on the ground floor.

At the middle point of the Central Path to Terminal 2, there is an exit for the Airport Shuttle Bus.

AIRLINES

The following airlines are moved to the new terminal building since April 29th:

• Air China (CA)
• Air India (AI)
• Aeroflot Russian Airlines (SU)
• Air Macau (NX)
• Air New Zealand (NZ)
• Alitalia (AZ)
• All Nippon Airways (NH)
• Asiana Airlines (OZ)
• AeroSvit Airlines (VV)
• British Airways (BA)
• Cathay Pacific Airways (CX)
• Cebu Pacific Air (5J)
• China Southern Airlines (CZ)
• Deutsche Lufthansa (LH)
• DragonAir (KA)
• Emirates (EK)
• Finnair (AY)
• Shanghai Airlines (FM)
• Garuda Indonesia (GA)
• Malaysia Airlines (MH)
• Northwest Airlines (NW)
• Philippine Airlines (PR)
• Qantas Airways (QF)
• Qatar Airways (QR)
• Royal Brunei Airlines (BI)
• Royal Nepal Airlines (RA)
• Singapore Airlines (SQ)
• Thai Airways (TG)
• Turkish Airlines (TK)
• TransAero Airlines (UN)
• United Airlines (UA)
• Virgin Atlantic Airways (VS)

THE DESIGN

The Interior was designed based on the concept "People Oriented", which adopts scientific approach in its construction to meet the demand for airline companies, "People oriented, providing convenience for passangers to the utmost extend. The organic sculptural design for the new terminal creates a loose-fit and sustainable building offering transparency and good views, fully utilise natural lighting with flexible spaces. And of course, all factors like flow design, environment, facilities layout and even transfers on ground transport are taken into consideration.

Leafy Ceiling Design

Popularity: 37% [?]

The Shanghai World Financial Center was planned to be the tallest building in the world when it was frist designed in 1997. This 97 storey building has surpassed the spires of Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur. When construction started, the 508m tall Taipei 101 was already underway to becoming the world tallest building. Plans was change since then because the tower couldn’t be build any higher as the foundation was meant to support a 460m tall building.

To protect the building from natural disaster like earthquakes and windstorms, the building holds 2 tuned mass dampers below its observation floors to reduce the building’s sway. It were installed on the 90th floor. The mass dampers use sensors to detect any swaing of the building and connects with a computer controlled. It is the first mass damper installed in Mainland China. It also design to withstand disaster such as plane crash including 12 fireproof refugee areas and 2 external elevators.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Bought a ferry ticket to Macau at HK-Macau ferry terminal. Get out from Sheung Wan MTR and follow the signs It’s just upstairs. There are some other ferry companies staff shouting everywhere for their cheap fares but I ended up buying a ticket from Turbojet. First, I don’t like people that approached me out of the blue and pursude me to buy something from them, secondly Turbojet have a whole row of counters ~ (haha).

HK-Macau = HK138 (economy class/weekday)
Macau – HK = HK142 (economy class/weekday)

Ferries going to Macau every half an hour. Don’t forget there’s no night ferries during weekdays.

You may want to change some MOP (Macau Pataca) in HK first and get some Macau maps at the ferry terminal. HKD is widely use in Macau but some small retail outlet only accept MOP. But MOP cannot use in HK! I suggest you take a bus to town, and it’s only cost MOP2.5 and you can go anywhere you want! From the first station to the last station, MOP2.5 (USD0.31). Save your Money for casino~~

The journey start at Largo do Senado (where I get down from the bus), the focal point of Macau’s historic centre. It’s pretty easy, just a few stops away from the ferry terminal. I’m a fan of Colonial Architecture and immediatly fall in love with this place at first sight!

The must eat… Macau pork burger! BBQ pork slice sells everywhere, it’s much much more bigger piece compare to other places like SG and MYS… and of course, the reknown Portuguese egg tart!

The must go place… First on the list: Sam Ba Sing Tzik!! Also known as St. Paul Catholic Church. The front facade and the grand stone stairs are the only remains of the greatest church in Macau! The architecture is simply magnificent!

St. Paul was designed by an Italian priest and was constructed with the help of the Japanese technology. Because of an indissoluble course, the church caught fire three times one after another and it was rebuilt again.

Some other attractions like Monte Fort (which is actually a shortened version of the fort’s full name: The Fortress of St.Paul of Monte) You will find a barracks for the fort’s troops, storehouses, water cisterns… etc.

Lastly… I know… the CASINO~

Popularity: 20% [?]

Again… I flew to HK. I love HK !! (An excuse to leave China?? @.@)

When flying to Hong Kong, don’t forget to look for the Giant bronze Buddha.

A world LARGEST Buddha statue (WOW~~~ ) sits cross-legged atop a green peak on Lantau Island with access via a very looooooong staircase. It was build using Bronze, 34 m tall and weight 250 tonnes. Take MTR to Ngong Ping 360 skyrail instead of bus. It involves a visually spectacular 5.7km cable car journey, travelling between Tung Chung Town center and Ngong Ping on Lantau Island. You will enjoy views over South China Sea, mountains and valleys on an amazing 20 mins experience. It cost HKD88 for a return skyrail boarding pass. They have "Journey of Enlightenment Package" which include a return way skyrail, "Walking with Buddha" ( a story on how an Indian Prince named Siddhartha become Buddha), and "Monkey Tale Theatre" which I think you can skip. It’s basically a comical show with special effects and surround sound.

Don’t waste time in the village. Go straight to the Buddha. You can stop by the village on the way back for a bite or something… There’s NO admission fees, but they will ask you whether you want to have you vegetarian meal included at Poh Lin Monastery. HKG60 per head and HKD 120 for a ‘high class’ vegetarian meal!!

Popularity: 20% [?]

Pudong, Lujiazui new icon – The Shanghai World Financial Center will be complete in 3 years, in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympic! The world will soon witness the birth of Shanghai World Financial Center, a tower pf Power, a dynamic and new, mixed-use 101 story development that soars 492m into the sky! In a city that believes – “the taller the better”, I believe the tower will be a major tourist destination and landmark. It is said to be the part of the city’s ambitions to become a key International center once again.

The upper portion of the building will feature a large rectangular opening to symbolize China’s new window to the world. The structure features a 3 floor underground parking, sophisticated retail space, elegant conference center, office units, five-star luxury hotel and finally observation and exhibition areas at the upper level of the building. the observatory atop the building will be the highest outdoor observation deck in the world. It would be cool if some nice restaurants fill the top portion.

The man behind the project, a Japanese real estate Developer – Minoru Mori from Mori Building Company, one of the largest privately held property developers in Japan knew he has to aim higher to make his new mark. When Minoru was young, he dreamed of becoming a novelist before he follow his father, a professor at Yokohama City University, into the property business. He then developed a facination with the ideas of Le Corbusier, one of my favourite Architect, and championed Le Corbusier’s notion of “Vertical Garden City” (Taller buildings and higher population density reduced commuting time and freed space for parks and civis amenities.)

Popularity: 7% [?]

No. 1 Water Town Of China – Zhou Zhuang , offer a glimpse of life in ancient China
It lies at the middle between Shanghai and Suzhou, is an ancient town of Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, where abounds with rivers and lakes. So it is thought by many to be the best waterside town in China.This ancient town has a history of more than 900 years old with many houses built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Zhou Zhuang is clean, well-kept village filled with cobbled paths, arched bridges, tile roofs and tantalizing glimpses of old China. However, is a TRUE ancient canal town. Development stopped here about 500 years ago. The city has preserved the ancient village intact. No vehicles (including bicycles) are allowed. The "streets" are no wider than 2 meters and canals crisscross the entire village. It was a bright spring day, and the waterfront willows were just beginning to leaf, showing splashes of lime green in the cool May sunshine. Tourists floated by on boats, admiring the thousand-year-old stonework, especially the famous Shide and Yongan bridges, a pair of Ming-era beauties.

Travel on: May 2006
Admission Fees: RMB 100
Transportation Fees: RMB 40

Popularity: 13% [?]

Glass wall in the dark! Walk pass a street and saw this glass wall which create a soft, elegant atmosphere for this intimate evenings in balmy weather! I can’t say this is a great archi but instead, a good design.

Popularity: 6% [?]