International Design

China 's current building boom is doing more than sucking up the world's supply

of steel -- it's creating a stage for some of today's boldest architecture and engineering

Beijing International Airport

Foster & Partners. Under construction, to be completed in late 2007. According to

the U.S. Embassy in China , the country will be building 108 new airports between 2004 and

2009 -- including what will be the world's largest: the Beijing International Airport , designed

by Foster & Partners. Set to open at the end of 2007, in time for the Beijing Olympics in

2008, the airport terminal will cover more than 1 million square meters, giving it a bigger

footprint than the Pentagon.

 

     It's designed to handle 43 million passengers a year initially and 55 million by 2015 ,

figures that will probably push the new facility into the ranks of the top 10 busiest airports ,

going by the 2004 numbers from the Airports Council International . Given the scale and

traffic, Foster & Partners focused on the traveler's experience, making sure that walking

distances are short, for instance

 

 

Shanghai World Financial Center

     Kohn Pederson Fox Architects. Under construction, completion scheduled for 2008

Rising in the Lujiazhui financial district in Pudong , the Shanghai World Financial Center

is a tower among towers . The elegant 101-story skyscraper will be ( for a moment, at

least )  the world's tallest when completed in early 2008 . One of the biggest challenges

of building tall is creating a structure that can withstand high winds . The architects

devised an innovation solution to alleviate wind pressure by adding a rectangular cut-out

at the building's apex . Not only does the open area help reduce the building's sway but

it also will be home to the world's highest outdoor observation deck -- a 100th-floor

vista that will take vertigo to new heights

 

 

National Swimming Center , Beijing

PTW and Ove Arup. Under construction, completion scheduled for 2008. The striking

exterior of the National Swimming Center , being constructed for the 2008 Olympic Games

and nicknamed , the " Water Cube , " is made from panels of a lightweight form of Teflon

that transforms the building into an energy efficient greenhouse-like environment . Solar

energy will also be used to heat the swimming pools , which are designed to reuse double

filtered , backwashed pool water that's usually dumped as waste . Excess rainwater will

also be collected and stored in subterranean tanks and used to fill the pools The complex

engineering system of curvy steel frames that form the structure of the bubble like skin are

based on research into the structural properties of soap bubbles by two physicists at

Dub lin 's Trinity College . The unique structure is designed to help the building withstand

nearly any seismic disruptions

Central Chinese Television CCTV, Beijing

   OMA/Ole Scheeren and Rem Koolhaas. Under construction, scheduled for completion in

2008 The design of the new Central Chinese Television (CCTV) headquarters defies the

popular conception of a skyscraper -- and it broke Beijing 's building codes , and required

approval by a special review panel The standard systems for engineering gravity and

lateral loads in buildings didn't apply to the CCTV building , which is formed by two leaning

towers , each bent 90 degrees at the top and bottom to form a continuous loop . The

engineer's solution is to create a structural " tube " of diagonal supports . The irregular

pattern of this " diagrid " system reflects the distribution of forces across the tube's surface

Designed by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Scheeren and engineered by Dane, Ove Arup, the new

Linked Hybrid, Beijing

Steven Holl Architects ; Li Hu , lead architect . Groundbreaking on December 28, 2005 ,

scheduled for completion in 2008 . Linked Hybrid , which will house 2,500 people in 700

apartments covering 1.6 million square feet , is a model for large-scale sustainable

residential architecture . The site will feature one of the world's largest geothermal coo lin g

and heating systems , which will stabilize the temperature within the complex of eight

buildings , all lin ked at the 20th floor by a " ring " of service establishments , like cafes and

dry cleaners . A set of dual pipes pumps water from 100 meters below ground , circulating

the liquid between the buildings' concrete floors . The result : The water circulation system

serves as a giant radiator in the winter and coo lin g system in the summer . It has no boilers

to supply heat , no electric air conditioners to supply cool . The apartments also feature

gray-water recyc lin g -- a process that's just starting to catch on in Beijing in much smaller

  Eco City, Dongtan

 Masterplan by Arup , for the Shanghai Industrial Investment Corp . In planning stages ,

first phase to be completed in 2010 . Developed by the Shanghai Industrial investment

Corp. , Dongtan Eco City , roughly the size of Manhattan , will be the world's first fully

sustainable cosmopolis when completed in 2040 . Like Manhattan , it's situated on an

island -- the third largest in China . Located on the Yangtze River , Dongtan is within close

proximity of the bustle of Shanghai . By the time the Shanghai Expo trade fair opens in

2010 , the city's first phase should be completed , and 50,000 residents will call Dongtan

home-sweet-sustainable-home The goals to be accomplished in the next five years :

systems for water purification , waste management , and renewable energy .  An

Olympic Stadium, Beijing

Herzog & de Meuron . Under construction , to be completed in 2008 . Sports stadiums

have long followed the enduring design of one of the original wonders of the world , Rome 's

Coliseum Herzog & de Meuron's National Stadium in Beijing is an attempt to rethink the

classic sports arena layout for more ecologically correct times . The Swiss architects

( of Tate Modern fame ) wanted to provide natural ventilation for the 91,000-seat structure 

-- perhaps the largest " eco-friendly " sports stadium designed to date . To achieve this ,

they set out to create a building that could function without a strictly enclosed shell , yet

also provide constant shelter for the audience and athletes alike . To solve these design

problems , they looked to nature for inspiration . The stadium's outer grid resembles a

bird's nest constructed of delicately placed branches and twigs . Each discrete space within

the facility , from restrooms to restaurants , is constructed as an independent unit within the

outer lattice -- making it possible to encase the entire complex with an open grid that allows

for natural air circulation . The architects also incorporated a layer of translucent membrane

Donghai Bridge , Shanghai/Yangshan Island

China Zhongtie Major Bridge Engineering Group , Shanghai # 2 Engineering Co. ,

Shanghai Urban Construction Group Officially opened in December , 2005 . A key phase

in the development of the world's largest deep-sea port was completed when China 's first

cross-sea bridge -- the 20-mile , six-lane Donghai Bridge -- was officially opened in

December, 2005 . Stretching across the East China Sea , the graceful cable-stay structure

connects Shanghai to Yangshan Island , set to become China 's first free-trade port ( and

the world's largest container port ) upon its completion in 2010 . To provide a safer driving

route in the typhoons and high waves known to hit the region , Donghai Bridge is designed

in an S-shape . The structure , reported by Shanghai Daily to have cost $1.2 billion , will

hold its title of China 's -- and one of the world's -- longest over-sea bridge for only a couple

of years , though . In 2008 , the nearby 22-mile Hangzhou Bay Transoceanic Bridge , which

also begins ( or ends , depending on your journey ) in Shanghai , will earn the superlative

National Grand Theater, Beijing

Paul Andreu and ADP . Under construction , to be completed in 2008 . Located near

Tiananmen Square , the 490,485-square-foot glass-and-titanium National Grand Theater ,

scheduled to open in 2008 , seems to float above a man-made lake . Intended to stand out

amid the Chinese capital's bust lin g streets and ancient buildings , the structure has

garnered criticism among Bejing's citizens for clashing with classic landmarks like the

Monument to the People's Heroes ( dedicated to revolutionary martyrs ) , the vast home of

the National People's Congress , or Tiananmen Gate itself ( the Gate of Heavenly Peace )

     French architect Paul Andreu is no stranger to controversy -- or to innovative forms . A

generation ago , in 1974 , his untraditional design for Terminal 1 of Paris 's Charles de

Gaulle airport was criticized for its unusual curves , yet Andreu's groundbreaking , futuristic

building later was seen to distinguish de Gaulle from more generic European and 

international air hubs . ( The same airport's Terminal 2E , also designed by Andreu , gained

attention in 2004 when it collapsed , tragically kil lin g four people . )

   Beijing 's daring National Grand Theater is as much a spectacle as the productions that

will be staged inside in the 2,416-seat opera house , the 2,017-seat concert hall , and the

1,040-seat theater . At night , the semi-transparent skin will give passersby a glimpse at the

performance inside one of three auditoriums , a feature that highlights the building's public nature .