Skyline Gazing: Beijing's Most Iconic Modern Buildings
Though a trip through Beijing has plenty of historical architecture to offer, the city’s skyline also holds many feats of modern design. However, unlike Shanghai, where most of the great structures are gathered around the Pudong bend to be viewed all at once, Beijing has spread out its contemporary landmarks throughout the city, making it difficult for architectural enthusiasts to sneak a gander at all of them. Therefore, we decided to gather them all into one place. Here is our list of Beijing’s most iconic modern buildings:
The “Big Pants,” as it is more commonly
known, is one of just ten buildings in the city over 200m tall. Designed
by Rem Koolhaas and Ole Schreeren, the towering loop of two leaning
towers connected at the top and bottom by horizontal off-shoots is now
such an iconic structure that it is often used in film and television to
establish that the story is set in Beijing.
Standing at 528m, CITIC Tower is
Beijing’s tallest building and the tenth tallest skyscraper in the
world. It also goes by the name 中国尊 zhōngguó zūn due to its
distinctive skinny-waist shape that bears a resemblance to an ancient
Chinese wine vessel. The office building serves as the headquarters of
CITIC Group, but the basement level will soon contain a large shopping
center and subway station.
In an effort to alleviate the unceasing
growth in traffic to and from Beijing Capital International Airport,
Daxing was built just about as far south as you can go while still
technically staying within the boundaries of Beijing. This star-shaped
mega building was the last one designed by the late architect Zaha
Hadid. The terminals, which cover a massive 700,000 square meters,
feature an abundance of art, shopping, and dining, so visitors won't be
nearly as bored as they are at Capital Airport.
Is it a smushed doughnut? A double helix?
Perhaps a sort of Mobius strip? Lying at the southwest corner of
Chaoyang Park, the Phoenix Center is an award-winning building that
leaves much up to the imagination of the on-looker. It was built to
house Hong Kong broadcaster Phoenix TV and occasionally opens to the
public for exhibitions that show off the work of artists in addition to
the stunning view from inside.
An unmissable structure when traveling
through north Beijing, Pangu Plaza is a building with a wavy head and a
winding history (and that's putting it lightly). Its bizarre topper is
meant to look like a dragon head (if you squint just right) that leads
the body made up of four much shorter towers. As the logo on the side
suggests, it also houses IBM’s China headquarters.
The original National Library building,
built in 1987, would not look out of place in the China of old. Just
after the Olympics, however, a sleek new building was added to the
library campus (read our blog about it back in 2008 when it opened via QR code above). Appropriately, it somewhat resembles a giant silver
book, or less appropriately, a ship from Star Trek, especially when the
front windows are lit up at night (though you’ll have to venture to
Fujian province to see a real USS Enterprise shaped-building, The Telegraph has more about this via QR code below). As it is a
public facility, you can go see the inside of the building, and
foreigners can obtain a reader card using their passport.
It’s not hard to see how this theater
earned the nickname of the "Giant Egg.” With an opera hall, music hall,
several art exhibition halls, and restaurants, the National Centre for
the Performing Arts is also the largest theater building in Asia. Besides
the shape, its most distinctive feature is that its exterior transitions
from glass to titanium, and its got a surrounding reflection pool.
Not far from the Big Pants, the People’s
Daily Headquarters caught a lot of flack in the design world while it
was under construction due to its rather phallic appearance. Upon
completion, though, it was able to shed the laughter and hold the city
in awe with its shiny new façade that makes it look more like a wind
sail. The original design included a helipad and planned for large
satellite dishes to be placed within its hollow tip, but we like it just
the way it turned out.
In contrast with the vase-like CITIC
Tower, the second tallest building in Beijing has a chubby waist and
thins out at both ends. Its crowning feature is, of course, its crown,
which catches the eye when gazing across the skyline. Atop sits
Atmosphere Bar, which may just have the best view of the city of any bar
in town.
Completed in 2017, the third tallest
building in Beijing takes a cue from its aforementioned counterpart,
with its chubby waist making it look more like a big stalk of corn
jutting out of the ground than anything. Home to offices and hotel
space, CWTC 3B is best known as the building where boutique hotel JEN
by Shangri-la and beer bar Beersmith Gastropub are located.
Better known by its nickname the "Bird’s
Nest,” the National Stadium is recognizably by its steel beams that
intersect and criss-cross like a bamboo forest. The stadium, which seats
91,000 spectators, was built for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Since then,
it has been used for major football games and other sporting events, and even saw reuse for the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics (for the opening and closing ceremonies only this time around).
Another famous Olympic facility with a catchy nickname, the “Water Cube” is defined by its bubbly façade and was used for the Olympic swimming competitions and afterward was opened to the public as an indoor water park. It was recently renamed "Ice Cube" for the 2022 Winter Olympics, during which it was used for curling events.
This giant data center, too, was erected
to serve the needs of the 2008 Olympics and sits adjacent to Pangu
Plaza and the National Stadium. From the west-side view, fittingly, the
Digital Beijing Building's horizontal and diagonal lines evoke the
circuits of a computer chip. From the south, one can see that the
building is actually four separate sections, unequally divided and
spaced.
Overlooking the Olympic Park, the Olympic
Tower is made up of four connected towers that bloom into circular
observation decks at the top. The tower was built to commemorate the
2008 games coming to Beijing, and its only functional purpose is to get a
nice view of the city.
Wangjing Soho was designed by architect
Zaha Hadid and features three separate shark fin-like buildings of
varying heights and widths. At 200 meters, the tallest tower is notable
as the world's fifth tallest building designed by a woman.
This massive Soho is another work of the
late Hadid, and similarity can be seen in the horizontal lines around the
curvilinear buildings. Between its four towers lies a courtyard that
has been known to host more than a few of our festivals.
Zaha Hadid's final impression on
Beijing, the Leeza Soho in Fengtai was completed at the end of 2019
and is a continuation of her fascination with curvilinear elements and
design. At nearly 200-meters-tall, the atrium is the biggest in the
world and is cleverly designed so that its 45-degree angle allows
sunlight into all of its 46 floors, which mostly hold office space.
Built in 2000, Dongsishitiao's imposing
Poly Theatre and sprawling bronze mural is likely one of the first
buildings to catch the attention of visitors. The 1,400-seat theater
houses plays, music, and opera throughout the year.
Designed by the late Guangzhou-born
architect I.M. Pei who died in 2019 at the age of 102, the Bank of
China Beijing Branch (not to be confused with the headquarters in Fengtai) is situated in Xicheng. Completed in 1982, the bank marked Pei's
first China-based project, 40 years after his initial departure, and
eschews a skyscraper-type design for something more subdued so not to
overshadow important low-lying structures in the heart of the Chinese
capital such as the Forbidden City. Pei also leaves behind the Fragrant Hill Hotel in Beijing's northwest.
Beijing's Five Architectural Colors and What They Mean
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