The center of the new embassy is the 8-story main office building, which is covered by a "gauze curtain" made of transparent, translucent and opaque glass. At different times of the day, the glass shell will change with the light. At night, the light from the glass makes the building look like a lantern or lighthouse.
The design scheme of the adjacent three-story atrium office building is conducive to cultivating the team consciousness of employees in a safe and practical environment.
In front of the consular/visa office, the retaining wall has changed from concrete to thick transparent glass, which allows China tourists to see the reflection pool and American works of art. After entering the room, they will cross the wooden bridge on the reflection pool and come to a 50-foot-long terrace.
The new building of the American Embassy blends into the soil of China, symbolically blending the traditions of the East and the West.
safe
In order to cope with the high earthquake risk in China, the new embassy has a complex seismic design. This includes the flexible connection between parts of large buildings and the anti-movement control of all equipment and fixtures.
The design of the new embassy also reflects security considerations. The buildings are protected by retaining walls, and the exterior of the buildings is cushioned by landscape design. These design features reflect the safety considerations of American the State Council standards, and they are applicable to all new embassy projects. William Prior Preil, the project director of the new embassy, said that the first consideration in the design of the embassy is to ensure safety, draw lessons from history, and prevent possible car bomb attacks, malicious crowd gathering attacks, and street attacks by gunmen. Therefore, safety design can be seen everywhere in all areas of the embassy. The landscape design of the lotus pond and wooden bridge at the entrance of the embassy is not only pleasing to the eye, but also for safety reasons. Although there is a fence outside the embassy, according to the unified design requirements of American embassies abroad, the embassy building should have a buffer zone of at least 30 meters away from the street outside the fence to avoid car bomb attacks on the street. So around the new building of China Embassy, you can see the isolation belt covered with running water, wooden bridges, rockeries, flowers and bushes. Passing a lotus pond at the entrance of the embassy, Han Wenjie pointed to the pattern of the buffer zone and said, "It is very symbolic.". He explained: "Just like entering the United States from China has to pass through a sea area, entering the American Embassy from the streets of China has to pass through such a water area."
On the ground of the main entrance of the embassy, there are several holes as big as bowls. Phulel said that this is a row of car interceptors, which can prevent malicious entry of vehicles. If a car intrudes into the embassy area without permission, these devices will rebound from the ground 1.2 meters to intercept it.
Considering that Beijing is in an earthquake-prone area, the embassy has also carried out complex seismic design. There are flexible connections between large buildings, and all equipment and fixtures have anti-movement control.
The high concern for safety also runs through the whole construction process of the embassy. Through bidding, the designer and construction contractor of the embassy are well-known American companies, but the main subcontractor is a construction company in Beijing. In order to prevent the disclosure of building safety secrets, the construction is carried out in stages. Phulel said, "For example, we let China's subcontractors work in the embassy for two and a half years, then they leave the site, we build a wall, and American workers continue to work. After this stage is completed, Chinese and American workers will cooperate again. "
Han Wenjie, who spent seven years in China and participated in the construction of the new embassy, revealed that about 1500 technicians, electricians and construction workers in China participated in the construction of the new embassy. Among the hundreds of overseas embassies in the United States, the new embassy in China ranks second, second only to the American diplomatic building in Baghdad. Reid said that this building complex "represents the highest level of American architecture in 2 1 century". Walking through the embassy is like being in a Jiangnan garden. A big black wall is called "Dragon Wall" and a rockery is called "meditation stone". Although the spectacular western-style buildings are independent, they are connected by Chinese lotus ponds, rockeries, small bridges and bamboo forests, which set each other off. Next to the graceful lotus, there is a colorful steel sculpture "Tulip" in full bloom. This sculpture was designed by JeffKoons, who is the most valuable artist of our time. The new embassy rented this sculpture for 10 years.
Korean Festival said that diplomacy is a serious profession, and most buildings designed for embassies are dark, but there are whimsical and whimsical factors in the American character. Therefore, in the design of the embassy, some sculptures such as tulips are added to add some liveliness to the seriousness.
The main architect of the new museum landscape is Peter Volcker, who designed the World Trade Center Memorial in new york. In many of his works, he made a subtle interpretation of China gardens. The new US Embassy in China will display the contemporary art works of at least 65,438+08 outstanding American and Chinese artists. These artists include Lin Ying, Cai Guoqiang, Betty Woodman, Ji, Hai Bo and Martin Pu 'er. These artworks were selected according to cultural sensitivity and diplomacy, and they are all owned by the State Council. The only exception is the steel sculpture "Tulip" by Jeff Koons, which will be exhibited outside the consular/visa office building, and this work has been lent to the new embassy 10.
Friends of Embassy Art and Preservation (FAPE), a non-profit organization seeking art exhibits for the interior of American diplomatic buildings, will install four sculptures created by artists Marc de Subero, ellsworth kelly and Louise Bourgeois in the new embassy. Foundation laying: The foundation laying ceremony was held on February 6th, 2004 (attendees: US Ambassador to China Reid, China Vice Foreign Minister Zhou Wenzhong and other Chinese officials). Construction started on May 28th, 2004.
"Last Seal": April 2007 1 1
Opening: It is planned to open on August 8, 2008.
Cost: USD 434 million (RMB 2,976.24 million)
Number of workers involved in construction in China: 1500.
Coverage: 10 acre (4 hectares)
Project area: 500,000 square feet (6.5438+052,400 square meters)
American agencies working here: more than 20 federal agencies.
Designer: owings & Company, skidmore, California, USA; LLP Merrill Lynch (SOM) Architecture Design Office
Landscape Design: Peter walker Landscape Office, Berkeley, California, USA.
General construction contractor: Zachry Caddell Joint Venture (ZCJV)
Zachry construction company in San Antonio, Texas
Caddell Construction Company, Montgomery, Alabama