Discover 8 of Beijing's most significant contemporary buildings

china architecture; beijing's most significant buildings

(HG Esch/CASACOR)

Beijing , the capital of China, is a metropolis home to around 22 million people and is the political and cultural center of the country. Rich in millennia of history, from the ancient and beautiful Forbidden City to the plaza of Tiananmen Square, the city has become known for a series of ambitious and extravagant architectural projects. Below, we've rounded up 8 of Beijing's most significant contemporary buildings, including works by MAD, Zaha Hadid Architects, OMA, and Ole Scheeren.

1. Grand National Theatre, by Paul Andreu

(Paul Maurer/CASACOR)

Among the first new Beijing landmarks to emerge in the past 15 years, one of the most important is the National Grand Theater. Designed by French architect Paul Andreu , the theater is a huge dome in the middle of a lake near the Chinese government headquarters – the Great Hall of the People. It houses three theaters inside the enormous 149,500 ^m2 dome, which is the largest complex of its kind in Asia.

2. CCTV Headquarters, by OMA

(Iwan Baan/CASACOR)

One of the most recognizable buildings on the Beijing skyline is the irregularly shaped China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters, designed by Dutch firm OMA.

3. CITIC Tower, by KPF

(HG Esch/CASACOR)

CITIC Tower, more popularly called China Zun, is the tallest skyscraper in Beijing , at 528 meters high, and the fifth tallest building in China. Designed by American firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) based on a concept by Farrells, the building was conceived to form the centerpiece of Beijing's new central business district. Its shape – wider at the top and bottom than in the middle – is supposedly based on the shape of a zun , a type of ceremonial vessel dating back to the Bronze Age.

4. Galaxy Soho, by Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid Architects designed this 330,000 ^m2 retail, office and entertainment complex for mega property developer China Soho. Completed in 2012, the building consists of four vaulted structures fused by bridges and platforms between curved floor plates, enclosing a series of courtyards.

5. Phoenix International Media Center, by BIAD UFO

(Pawel Paniczko/CASACOR)

Encased in a latticework glass and steel skin, this ring-shaped building by architecture firm BIAD UFO provides the new headquarters for Chinese broadcaster Phoenix Television.

6. Chaoyang Park Plaza, by MAD

(Edmon Leong/CASACOR)

The 120-meter-high mountainous glass volumes of Chaoyang Park Plaza were designed by architecture studio MAD and completed in 2017. The design was intended to reference the lakes, hills and rocks depicted in traditional Chinese Shan Shui scenic paintings. For some, it signaled a shift from outrageous buildings to a more understated approach to grand architectural projects.

7. Guardian Art Center, by Ole Scheeren

(Iwan Baan/CASACOR)

The Guardian Art Center has been touted as a model of how Chinese architecture can be contemporary and respectful , with its small ground-level blocks matching the scale of traditional hutong houses in Beijing. MAD's 120,000 ^m2 complex of skyscrapers, office blocks and public spaces is located in Beijing's central business district , which sits on the southern edge of Chaoyang Park – one of the city's largest parks.

8. Leeza Soho, by Zaha Hadid Architects

(Hufton + Crow/CASACOR)

Returning to the latest features to hit the Beijing skyline, the 45-story Leeza Soho skyscraper contains the world’s tallest atrium at its center. It is another Zaha Hadid project for China Soho. The tower crosses an underground subway service tunnel , leading the architecture firm to divide it into two halves on either side of a 194-meter-high void.