Shenzhen is going to have its new stock exchange building

archicentral.com has an article about the new Shenzhen Exchange Building.

In December 2006, Rem Koolhaas’ Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has won a competition to design the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in Shenzhen, China.

The 250m-high building will be OMA’s second biggest project in China after the vast CCTV building in Beijing, which is under construction.

SSE consists of a central tower with an elevated box raised off the ground to provide a canopy for a public plaza beneath.

‘Lifting the base in the air vastly increases its exposure,’ says Koolhaas. ‘In its elevated position, it can ‘broadcast’ the activities of the stock market to the entire city.’

‘The essence of the stock market is speculation: it is based on capital, not gravity,’ he continues. ‘In the case of Shenzhen’s almost virtual stock market, the role of symbolism exceeds that of the program – it is a building that has to represent the stock market, more than physically accommodate it.’