OMA in Beijing: China Central Television Headquarters by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren November 15, 2006–March 26, 2007 Architecture and Design Galleries

This exhibition presents one of the most innovative architecture projects under construction today. Scheduled to open for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, the complex, which comprises three buildings and a media park situated on a site east of Beijing's Forbidden City, embodies a proposal for social and urban change through a rethinking of the tall building. CCTV is a private building that will have a uniquely public Visitor's Loop, while its mirror image—TVCC, or the Television Cultural Center—is a public structure housing a state-of-the-art broadcasting theater, cultural facilities, and a five-star hotel.

The international architectural partnership Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) won the competition for its design in 2002, and the project broke ground in 2004, with OMA partner Ole Scheeren leading its design and execution. The immersive installation explores the project's internal complexity and richness, its integration of public and private uses, and its structural innovation through an array of graphics, renderings, and explanatory texts as well as large- and small-scale models,many of them presented publicly here for the first time. A selection of architectural drawings from MoMA's collection will situate the project as one of the most visionary undertakings in the history of modern architecture.

Organized by Tina di Carlo, Assistant Curator, Department of Architecture and Design, and Alexandra Quantrill, Curatorial Assistant, Department of Architecture and Design.

Pictured above:
OMA/Ole Scheeren and Rem Koolhaas. CCTVTVCC. View from Dong San Huan Road, Beijing (computer generated image). © OMA 2006