Absurdity, Allegory and China

It is not news that the CCTV Building, which has topped out along the East Third Ring Road, is one of the most expensive office building projects in the world. For whatever mixed feelings I might have about the complex, it is impossible to visually ignore it. (I cannot pass by without taking several hundred photographs. I know that this isn’t right, but I have never claimed to be.) It commands the sky. It commands the coffers. It commands imagination. It is a first, and to the best of my recollection, it is the only time I have been in the presence of an unfolding archetype. It moves me in ways that I cannot adequately express, though I have found that I have gravely altered my understanding of the relationship between Beauty and Fear.

What I have not altered is my relationship with my native language. Living in China is a challenge to those who are driven mad by incorrect spelling. Thankfully, it’s not one of my obsessions. Generally, I’m not bothered by it here, and, truth be known, I get a pretty good kick out of the constant barrage of spelling mistakes, dictionary translations that end up as public signboards or advert material, and I love a good laugh when ordering food. The Book of Menus is waiting to be written, if it hasn’t been already.

What I cannot suffer, though, is sloppiness in flagship enterprises that proudly display shoddy grammar and/or bad spelling. If you are hypotensive and need a good spike, pick up the book MOMA: A City Within A City by Steven Holl Architects, 98 RMB. Or better yet, just go on by and act as if you are interested in dropping a few million, and they’ll give you one for free. Trust me, you really don’t want to have to pay for this. Or at least not for the English part. As best as I can figure, the book is an example of an effective anti-marketing strategy that stumbled out of a Maotai lunch and right into print. It reads like I imagine I would look having a heart attack in the deep end of a pool.

• “The material adopted for external wall is frosted-finish alumina plate, a light material that can help ease the oppressing sensation of this large scale, high-density building.” Interesting place to include the concept of oppression, though maybe they’re obliquely referring to the mortgage.
• Multi-hall Art Theater: “The entire architecture floats on a shallow pond, with its exterior wall capable of projecting advertising films, adding vitality to the community.” Interesting wall. But what I think they mean is that after laying out 30-40,000 RMB per square meter you get to live with a giant television showing commercials right outside your window, which, I assume, helps create an airport ambience. There’s no mention of speakers, but I’d ask before laying out the cash. But if the wuye is anything like most wuye I’ve encountered, they’re probably going to lie.
• Page 142 sports a sentence nearly as long as a paragraph, though actually it’s not a sentence (or a paragraph) at all, since nary a verb can be found.

I hardly know where to stop with this thing, but I think you get the drift, though I can’t leave this one without mentioning page 92 where we learn that “…the designer of this project has made breakthroughs in stereotyped landscapes.”

For as much international recognition as this project has received, one would expect something more than a ‘book’ with headings like “An Alienated Neighborhood Relationship as a Result of the Transformation of Residential Structure” and “A Forecast of Future Development of Beijing in Light of the General Development Situation of International Metropolises.” Hard to know if you’re buying a home or enrolling in a cadre school.

But back to the CCTV project. If you head to the south gate on Guanghua Lu, you’ll see where I took the above photo. They got the Chinese right.

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