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Rem Koolhaas/OMA Beijing Mandarin Oriental Fire
- Thread starter AlvinofDiaspar
- Start date
Pinkie
Active Member
This is such a trajic day for anyone who's followed the construction of this building for the past several years. I'm still in shock and can't believe how quickly the entire building became engulfed in flames. One could only think that maybe this was meant to happen today so that it didn't happen in the future with people occupying the hotel.
Here's a link to a 5 part video series of the entire fire from a resident of Beijing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP50yddytzs
Here's a link to a 5 part video series of the entire fire from a resident of Beijing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP50yddytzs
Jayomatic
Active Member
Devastating indeed. This building really was something special and I hope they rebuild it the exact same as it had been. I remember seeing it this past summer thinking it was one of the most futuristic skyscrapers i've seen.
It's still pretty irresponsible setting off such massive fireworks in such close proximity to other buildings.
It's still pretty irresponsible setting off such massive fireworks in such close proximity to other buildings.
wyliepoon
Senior Member
It's a tragedy for sure. However, I have no doubt that the Chinese will be able to rebuild/restore the building to its original design. They have a good track record of rebuilding lost or heavily damaged buildings.
Believe it or not, it's been reported that Tiananmen Gate, at the north end of Beijing's Tiananmen Square, was secretly rebuilt from the ground up in 1969-70. (Wikipedia and Xinhua article)
If the source of the fire does prove to be fireworks, I think people will raise concerns about pyrotechnic shows on/near tall buildings...
Believe it or not, it's been reported that Tiananmen Gate, at the north end of Beijing's Tiananmen Square, was secretly rebuilt from the ground up in 1969-70. (Wikipedia and Xinhua article)
If the source of the fire does prove to be fireworks, I think people will raise concerns about pyrotechnic shows on/near tall buildings...
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khris
Senior Member
For some reason a lot of people seem to be getting this building that burned confused with the one across the street.
For informative purposes, it was not this building:
It was this one:
For informative purposes, it was not this building:
It was this one:
wonderboy416
Active Member
One would think that they'd have a proper builder's risk insurance policy in place (for certain it would be a subscription policy, with one lead insurer and several other insurers taking a portion of the risk) that would not only cleanup the site and pay to rebuild it again but also provide compensation for the time period which the hotel was originally slated to open to when it will actually open.
That's going to be one helluva payout but in North America at least that's what would happen. The insurers would have then sue the pants off of who ever was found negligent and try to recover as much as possible (which would probably be very little).
That's going to be one helluva payout but in North America at least that's what would happen. The insurers would have then sue the pants off of who ever was found negligent and try to recover as much as possible (which would probably be very little).
adma
Superstar
Uncle Teddy
Senior Member
I'm amazed something like this could burn this much due to fire works.
Jayomatic
Active Member
The Youtube video above shows a great deal of how the fire started. It appears that some fireworks had caused something on the roof to catch fire. Probably some leftover construction materials considering the building was in its final stages of construction. Though I also wonder if there might have been some fireworks located on the roof for some reason since you can see large sparking explosions when the fire was at its greatest.
AlvinofDiaspar
Moderator
There is a Chinese saying: Fire burns where it is prosperous (火燒旺地). I am sure they didn't mean it so literally.
re: fireworks
I think I saw what looks like embers from the fireworks actually bouncing off the roof in the youtube video. I have read the suggestion somewhere that the atrium inside the building basically served as a giant chimney allowing the fire to spread rapidly.
wylie:
Oh I have no doubt they will - especially considering the last thing CCTV and the regieme would want is a showing a torched hulk of a building in their newscasts. Chinese aren't as "forgiving" as the North Koreans in Pyongyang.
AoD
re: fireworks
I think I saw what looks like embers from the fireworks actually bouncing off the roof in the youtube video. I have read the suggestion somewhere that the atrium inside the building basically served as a giant chimney allowing the fire to spread rapidly.
wylie:
Oh I have no doubt they will - especially considering the last thing CCTV and the regieme would want is a showing a torched hulk of a building in their newscasts. Chinese aren't as "forgiving" as the North Koreans in Pyongyang.
AoD
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wyliepoon
Senior Member
Interesting piece in the Globe:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/wpointseastblog0115/
Liar, liar, underpants on fire
Mark MacKinnon, today at 7:11 AM EST
Fire and Beijing
Beijing
It was, quite literally, an unmissable event. A giant inferno that engulfed a 30-storey building in east Beijing, drawing a crowd of hundreds of onlookers.
Even those Beijingers who didn't see the fire itself on Monday night were affected by it the next morning as the firefighting operation shut down a major highway – the capital's Third Ring Road – for much of the day, causing traffic chaos throughout the city. The fire also contributed to Tuesday being one of the worst air-quality days in Beijing in recent months.
The blaze destroyed the nearly finished Mandarin Oriental hotel, which had been due to open this spring but is now an empty blackened tower. One firefighter died from smoke inhalation and seven others are in intensive care.
Making the fire even more obvious was its location, inside the complex that contains the iconic new headquarters of Central China Television, or CCTV. Dubbed the dakucha (the big underpants), by locals, the futuristic CCTV headquarters is one of the most striking new buildings on the Beijing skyline. In fact, CCTV owned the adjacent Mandarin Oriental building that was destroyed in the fire, and hosted the fireworks party that was found responsible for starting the blaze.
And yet, the news staff at the state-run CCTV were apparently the only people in Beijing who didn't notice the tower of flames directly in front of them. That night's newscast began not with live footage of the fire inside their complex, but with news of the fatal bush fires in faraway Australia.
As Han Han, one of China's best-read bloggers, sarcastically noted: “If CCTV's premium evening news program started airing at that time, the cameramen could move their lens toward the window after news anchors introduced what was happening with the fire — they would get the images of the fire and produce the first unedited news story in CCTV's history.â€
In comments that were themselves censored before being reposted by other Chinese bloggers as well as websites outside China, Han Han compared the Mandarin Oriental to “the thing underneath the big underpants†and said that by burning it, CCTV had committed a symbolic act.
“Such self-castration just perfectly fits the image of CCTV being the world's number one eunuch media,†he wrote. “For sure, the present CCTV does not deserve to have one.â€
Han Han is not alone in his disdain. Last month, a group of 22 prominent Chinese intellectuals called for a boycott of CCTV, saying the network churned out only “low-grade propaganda.â€
(For a taste of why many Chinese people might be fed up with CCTV, check out this YouTube clip of how the network covered Barrack Obama's inaugural address. The live feed is muted and the presenter awkwardly cuts in just as Obama mentions that “earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.â€)
CCTV eventually acknowledged that it was responsible for the fire, and that it didn't have the required permit to use fireworks that the deputy chief of Beijing's fire control bureau said were identical to those used during the opening ceremonies of last summer's Olympic Games.
It has yet to apologize for its shoddy coverage of an event that couldn't have been any easier to report.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/wpointseastblog0115/
Liar, liar, underpants on fire
Mark MacKinnon, today at 7:11 AM EST
Fire and Beijing
Beijing
It was, quite literally, an unmissable event. A giant inferno that engulfed a 30-storey building in east Beijing, drawing a crowd of hundreds of onlookers.
Even those Beijingers who didn't see the fire itself on Monday night were affected by it the next morning as the firefighting operation shut down a major highway – the capital's Third Ring Road – for much of the day, causing traffic chaos throughout the city. The fire also contributed to Tuesday being one of the worst air-quality days in Beijing in recent months.
The blaze destroyed the nearly finished Mandarin Oriental hotel, which had been due to open this spring but is now an empty blackened tower. One firefighter died from smoke inhalation and seven others are in intensive care.
Making the fire even more obvious was its location, inside the complex that contains the iconic new headquarters of Central China Television, or CCTV. Dubbed the dakucha (the big underpants), by locals, the futuristic CCTV headquarters is one of the most striking new buildings on the Beijing skyline. In fact, CCTV owned the adjacent Mandarin Oriental building that was destroyed in the fire, and hosted the fireworks party that was found responsible for starting the blaze.
And yet, the news staff at the state-run CCTV were apparently the only people in Beijing who didn't notice the tower of flames directly in front of them. That night's newscast began not with live footage of the fire inside their complex, but with news of the fatal bush fires in faraway Australia.
As Han Han, one of China's best-read bloggers, sarcastically noted: “If CCTV's premium evening news program started airing at that time, the cameramen could move their lens toward the window after news anchors introduced what was happening with the fire — they would get the images of the fire and produce the first unedited news story in CCTV's history.â€
In comments that were themselves censored before being reposted by other Chinese bloggers as well as websites outside China, Han Han compared the Mandarin Oriental to “the thing underneath the big underpants†and said that by burning it, CCTV had committed a symbolic act.
“Such self-castration just perfectly fits the image of CCTV being the world's number one eunuch media,†he wrote. “For sure, the present CCTV does not deserve to have one.â€
Han Han is not alone in his disdain. Last month, a group of 22 prominent Chinese intellectuals called for a boycott of CCTV, saying the network churned out only “low-grade propaganda.â€
(For a taste of why many Chinese people might be fed up with CCTV, check out this YouTube clip of how the network covered Barrack Obama's inaugural address. The live feed is muted and the presenter awkwardly cuts in just as Obama mentions that “earlier generations faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks, but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions.â€)
CCTV eventually acknowledged that it was responsible for the fire, and that it didn't have the required permit to use fireworks that the deputy chief of Beijing's fire control bureau said were identical to those used during the opening ceremonies of last summer's Olympic Games.
It has yet to apologize for its shoddy coverage of an event that couldn't have been any easier to report.
smuncky
Senior Member
content from archdaily.
smuncky
Senior Member
What was the cladding that burned so easily? Amazing really.
Also amazing that CCTV or whoever was pulling the strings would think that word of this won't get around everywhere if they buried the news story. You can't hide a burnt 40-storey hulk.
42
Also amazing that CCTV or whoever was pulling the strings would think that word of this won't get around everywhere if they buried the news story. You can't hide a burnt 40-storey hulk.
42
Peepers
Banned
The building was clad in a titanium-zinc alloy which is combustible if exposed to a high enough temperature. The fireworks apparently provided the right ignition source. Metal fires are harder to bring under control because water can actually "excite" the fire making it difficult to fight.
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