Dezeen City Guide

Top Ten Contemporary Landmarks in Beijing

Starting from this week, Dezeen will launch a guide to urban landmarks in China. From the perspective of architectural design, we choose the contemporary architecture that we think best represents the city landmark. The first stop of this series starts from Beijing, the capital of China.

Photography Iwan Ban

National Stadium

Designer: Herzog &; De Mellon

The national stadium with unique design is located in Beijing, and it is called the "Bird's Nest" because of its steel lattice enclosure structure. This 80,000-seat stadium was built by Swiss construction company Herzog &; De Mellon was designed for the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Recently, the venue hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

Photography HG Esch

citic tower

Designer: KPF

Citic Tower (commonly known as China Zun) is 528 meters high, which is the tallest building in Beijing and the fifth tallest skyscraper in China.

The building evolved from Kohn Pedersen Fox(KPF), an American company, according to the concept of Farrells, an architectural firm, aiming to become the core building of Beijing's new central business district. It is said that the designer referred to Zun, a ritual vessel of the Bronze Age, and created a shape that was wider up and down than in the middle.

Photography Iwan Ban

Chaoyang park square

Designer: MAD

Chaoyang Park Plaza120m-high gable glass body was designed by Beijing architectural firm MAD and completed in 20 17. The design draws inspiration from lakes, hills and stones in traditional landscape paintings in China.

MAD Architects said: "The ridges and valleys outline the shape of the external glass curtain wall, just like the forces of natural erosion have ground several thin lines on the tower."

Photography Iwan Ban

Yinhe SOHO

Designer: Zaha Hadid Architects Office.

This complex covers an area of 330,000 square meters and integrates retail, office and entertainment spaces. It was designed by Zaha Hadid, a London construction company, for Soho China, a large real estate developer.

The project was completed on 20 12. It consists of four dome structures. Curved floors are fused together by bridges and platforms, surrounded by a series of courtyards, and there is a big central "canyon" between buildings.

Photography Iwan Ban

Cctv headquarters building

Designer: OMA

Looking at Beijing's skyline, the most recognizable building is the irregularly shaped headquarters of China Central Television (CCTV). The project was designed by OMA Company in the Netherlands and started on 20 12.

Although nicknamed "big underpants", Rem Koolhaas, the founder of OMA, later argued in an interview with Dezeen that it was a "very serious building".

Photography Iwan Ban

Jiade art center

Designer: ole scheeren

After architect ole scheeren released the design scheme of Guardian Art Center, the design was praised as a model of China architecture that is both modern and respectful of history. Its small buildings on the ground are similar in scale to the traditional hutong quadrangles in Beijing.

Photography Pavel Panitz

Phoenix International Exchange Center

Designer: Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute

The circular building of this lattice curtain wall is the headquarters of Phoenix International Media, designed by Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute, and its distorted shape is compared to Mobius ring.

Photography huffton+crow

Lize Soho district

Designer: Zaha Hadid Architects Office.

This is another project designed by Zaha Hadid Architects for Soho China. Lize SOHO has 45 floors.

It has the highest atrium in the world at its center. Because the underground of the building crosses the subway tunnel, the architect divides the building into two parts, thus forming an atrium as high as 194 meters.

After a 45-degree twist design from bottom to top, the atrium presents a visual illusion, which makes people feel that the two sides of the tower are moving together.

National Centre for the Performing Arts

Designer: paul andreu

The National Grand Theatre designed by French architect paul andreu is a huge dome structure, located in the lake next to the Great Hall of the People.

With a total floor area of149500m2, including three theaters, it is the largest building complex of its kind in Asia. Half of the facade of this huge building is covered with titanium alloy, and the rest is glass.

Photography Dan Zhong

Beijing Daxing International Airport

Designer: Zaha Hadid Architects Office.

Haixing Terminal of Beijing Daxing International Airport is the third project designed by Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), which was completed in 20 19.

The project was designed by Zaha Hadid Architects and Paris Airport Group Architectural Design Company (ADPI). Check-in island, security desk and retail area are all arranged in the central area to make the space as compact as possible.