Interview with Futuristic Architect Ole Scheeren. 08:00a-09:00a ET
WATSON: Welcome back to the program. Nothing defines a city skyline more than a remarkable building. And now one architect is transforming cityscapes around the world by reinventing the very notion of the skyscraper. Ole Scheeran sat down with Kristie Lu Stout during a recent visit to Asia. And she started by asking what he meant when he said great architecture should tell a story.</s>OLE SCHEEREN, ARCHITECT: I think architecture is about creating space for people and lives of people and the stories of people. So, the idea of how people live and what they experience in a space for me is a very important tool when we are designing our buildings.</s>KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Let's talk about one of your designs, the Mahanakon (ph), the tallest tower in Bangkok. It looks like it's digitally deconstructing. Was that intentional? Was that the look you're trying to achieve?</s>SCHEEREN: I think the issue with towers is they're so large, that actually people lose any sense of scale. You can't tell how big or how small such a building is. But also, they suck up so many people in their (inaudible) and you can't tell that actually anybody is inside of it. So, I wanted to open up this new shaft of the tower and reveal the scale of the human being inside of it and ultimately the activity of the human being and broadcast it back as a message to the city and to urban life.</s>LU STOUT: Let's talk about a residential project that you did in Singapore, the Interlace (ph) right here. And it's very Jenga-like. The 31 residential blocks, toy-like structures stacked upon each other. How did you conceive that idea?</s>SCHEEREN: Originally, the brief asked for over a 1000 apartments, and with a 24-story height limit, that would have meant building 24 towers in a compound. The issue with the tower is not only that it's abstract, but that it's also isolating. If you live in these vertical silos, there's no sense of connectivity between human beings, so I basically toppled the towers and stacked them up in a grid, which from the side you can't really see, but once you go into the helicopter you see it's a hexagonal grid that forms huge open courtyards, spaces to program with gardens, with amenities, with the life of people. And it was this central idea of creating spaces for the people that live, together with a structure that interconnects everyone, that interlaces everyone, and that was really the idea for the building.</s>LU STOUT: Let's talk about the CCTV headquarters building in Beijing, because it is a remarkable work, but also very polarizing. The Chinese President Xi Jinping name checked it as so-called weird architecture. And last year the state council basically banned odd-shaped buildings. When that happened, how did that make you feel? Did you take it personally?</s>SCHEEREN: I think controversy is part of breaking the rules and going beyond the status quo. And, of course, a lot of the work we do is in that sense controversial. I think this building will find its rightful place in history, and I think in parts already actually has done so. But, of course, it was a building that really radically questioned the status of the skyscraper and said maybe skyscrapers should not be about height and about vertical hierarchy, but we basically bent the vertical needle back into itself to create a loop of interconnected activities that was all - it was a vision about collaboration inside a building. And I think these are quite radically different concepts. And it will take their time until they're fully understood and maybe also fully appreciated.</s>LU STOUT: Yeah, the last decade has been incredible in terms of architecture in China. But do you think that era of ambitious architecture is over for that country?</s>SCHEEREN: I don't think it's over, but I think a very important thing has happened, namely taking a step back and really looking at everything and starting to think about what is right and what is not right to do. Of course, the past decade saw so much enthusiastic production that there wasn't always time to think for many things I think that were built. And it's a very strong and important moment to now say what do we really believe in and what do we want to build? And I think that will produce a lot of good answers.</s>WATSON: That was German architect Ole Scheeren speaking to my colleague Kristie Lu Stout. And she will be back at this time, hosing this program on Thursday. And with that, that is News Stream. I'm Ivan Watson. World Sport with Amanda Davies is next. END