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CCTV new headquarters building is a 234m tall building in the form of a three-dimensional continuous cranked loop formed by a 9-storey podium structure joining two 50-storey high leaning towers which are linked at the top via a 13-storey cantilevered "overhang" structure at 36 storeys above the ground. This innovative and iconic shape of the building is exploited to provide the primary structural support system, as well as achieving the architectural vision of high-rise occupancy with occupant interface maintained within short distances in a continual loop. The building's primary support, in high-seismic intensity Beijing, is achieved by its external skin of leaning columns, horizontal beams and triangulated bracings forming a network of diagrids in an extremely strong closed braced tube structure. This external diagrid structure is also expressed boldly in the building's façade. It reinforces the transparency between …