Today I walked by the hotel that I said nearly a month ago had been “destroyed” by illegal CCTV fireworks. Since then I heard some debate about whether the building was actually rendered unusable or whether it was just a matter of scraping off the old skin and replacing it with a shiny new one. Looking up at the building, I wondered where the latter opinion was coming from. The building certainly looks like it’s toast, literally and figuratively, and even if it somehow stood, who would want to move into it? I’m no physicist, but I can’t believe a building can withstand so much heat for so many hours, followed by many hours of water and chemical soaking, and retain its structural integrity.
Anyway, the only reason I’m putting this up is because of some chatter on Twitter from some of the people I respect the very most when it comes to all things China, describing a Caijing story today claiming the building is not salvageable, and that some very top people at CCTV are under investigation for its destruction. Expect to see more on this real soon. Watching the demolition of what was a few weeks ago one of the most anticipated architectural arrivals of the new century will have to be painful.
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