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Ole Sheeren – Architect

It’s in the nature of civilizations to express their greatness through awe-inspiring structures and Ole Scheeren is playing his part within modern China.

Imagine a tube folded in space, an angular loop reaching up from the ground and you begin to envisage the ambitious CCTV Building. Now completed, this entire precinct in downtown Beijing was planned and constructed as the home and broadcasting hub for the world’s fastest growing television super power – China Central Television (CCTV)

Born in the German town of Karlsruhe, Ole was an architect’s son. He grew up playing with, and more often than not destroying, his father’s architectural models before setting forth on his own path of study and travel that led him around the world and then to architectural giant, Rem Koolhaas and Rotterdam based firm, OMA.

We travel to Beijing to follow the various construction stages and engineering challenges of the CCTV Building while also discussing the social and political context of this remarkable architectural statement.

Ole Scheeren also has a body of work and creative connections that extend around the world and across disciplines with landmark retail spaces created for Prada and organic exhibitions such as “Cities on the Move” created in conjunction with London’s Serpentine Gallery.

Much more than a simple architect the multidisciplinary Ole Scheeren is truly a “Man of the Move”