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Monday, February 9, 2009

Architecture Up In Smoke

Posted by on Mon, Feb 9, 2009 at 9:21 PM

Sign of the architectural times...

5d39/1234243306-3266397853_1b3592c196.jpg In 2009, one of the most eagerly anticipated buildings in the last 20 years was to be completed: The headquarters of CCTV in Beijing, designed by Rem Koolhaas and OMA. A striking, integral piece of that complex was the nearby Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Sadly, it looks like the hotel has almost completely burned down this morning.

As Reuters reports, the building caught on fire while locals were setting off fireworks for the Lantern Festival. (Slideshow of the fire here.) In addition to the hotel, the building was to include a theater, recording studios, and a movie theater, while the iconic building next door would include the TV station's main broadcasting units. The latter looks unaffected, but no word yet on whether the fire will affect its opening schedule.

Thanks, Peter.
Update: Watch the burning building here.

 

Comments (22) RSS

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1
Chinese fire drill!
Posted by AJ on February 9, 2009 at 9:45 PM
2
Charles -- I love to Slog Tip ya but, no source, no nothin'? Of a whopping copy and paste, no source? How would you feel if somebody did that to you? Are the ethics of blogging getting THAT lax?


video of fire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hSPFL2Zl…

Posted by Peter on February 9, 2009 at 10:10 PM
3
official webpage of project
http://www.mandarinoriental.com/beijing/
ap story
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/arti…
Posted by Peter on February 9, 2009 at 10:10 PM
4
Wowww, that video alone (@2) is worth the post. omgsh
Posted by Ian on February 9, 2009 at 10:13 PM
5
What did they use for insulation? Matches and gasoline?
Posted by elswinger on February 9, 2009 at 10:16 PM
6
wait a minute... why isn't the fire melting the steel columns causing a "pancake" collapse? that doesn't make sense... Surely an unfinished sky scraper would collapse at free fall speed minutes after its structure is exposed to intense heat... right?
Posted by Truther or Falser on February 9, 2009 at 10:22 PM
7
this is old news, chas...
Posted by holz on February 9, 2009 at 10:25 PM
8
Amazing that the interwebs news cycle has reduced a story which, literally and proverbially, only caught fire 15 hours ago as old news.

*dies a little on the inside*
Posted by Lake on February 9, 2009 at 10:29 PM
9
this made me so sad this morning. I didn't know I cared about Chinese development as much as I did.
Posted by dod on February 9, 2009 at 10:46 PM
10
@6: you people are like cockroaches. Long after humanity has left earth to travel through the stars, and the sun has expanded into a red giant extinguishing all life, you'll be circlejerking to your little theories...
Posted by Fuck You on February 9, 2009 at 10:46 PM
11
cctv in chennai says
sad news about the headquarters of cctv in beijing made me very sad
Posted by charan on February 9, 2009 at 10:58 PM
12
...best thing I've seen since the Husky Stadium collapse of '87, I tell ya what....


http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?Dis…
Posted by Mr. X on February 10, 2009 at 12:01 AM
13
Funny this should happen just after real estate prices collapsed...(firecrackers...huh?)

Better be sure to have some baking soda on hand at Wamu Tower...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnfpvk3U…

Posted by He's Cookin' Fishsticks! on February 10, 2009 at 12:08 AM
14
fucking hasty negligent Chinese .
Posted by Not a fan. on February 10, 2009 at 12:22 AM
15
@6: My apologies if you're trying to be ironic, but Jesus Christ, you people are fucking stupid. First of all, it is unlikely that any building fire would ever burn hot enough to "melt" steel. Secondly, steel structural members do not need to actually melt in order to fail--they only need to become ductile enough to become unable to resist the forces they're supposed to carry.

If you're so goddamned interested in theorizing whether or not the WTC was destroyed as a part of some hoax, why don't you read up on the fundamentals of strengths of materials or even just a few chapters on the history of fireproofing in cast-iron and steel supported skyscrapers?

Otherwise, shut the fuck up.
Posted by Hoyt Clagwell on February 10, 2009 at 12:22 AM
16
i think 6 was being "ironic".

if you've ever had the pleasure of seeing a ward skilling magnusson walk-thru of the WTC collapses, you would STFU. it had SCIENCE in it.
Posted by Max Solomon @ home on February 10, 2009 at 7:54 AM
17
Hotel: FAIL. Architecture: WIN!
Posted by WAIL on February 10, 2009 at 8:09 AM
18
It's funny how the NYT website, the PI and Seattle Times don't have any images of the disaster on their homepages. Apparently they are following the advise of the Propaganda Ministry: “No photos, no video clips, no in-depth reports.”
Posted by rod on February 10, 2009 at 8:34 AM
19
So let me get this straight. They are holding a "Lantern Festival" where they fucking light good damn candles with FIRE during the WORST drought in China in a generation? What the Fuck are the moron Chinese thinking of holding a celebration with fire in a hot tinder box dense area?

Are they completely fucking morons or only when it involves pushing their propoganda?
Posted by Just Sayin' on February 10, 2009 at 8:44 AM
20
How does an office building burn nowadays? I thought they made them out of glass, metal and concrete.
Posted by The CHZA on February 10, 2009 at 9:00 AM
21
"...for me to POOP ON!"
Posted by Dougsf on February 10, 2009 at 12:45 PM
22
Either WTC 7 was collapsed in a controlled demolition, or Chinese Engineering is vastly superior to American Engineering.
Posted by Anon of Florida on February 11, 2009 at 4:21 PM

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