CTF Finance Centre was recently featured as part of CNN’s Future Cities Asia series.
Touching on recent advances in elevator technology and their effects on the design of tall towers, the piece also discusses how KPF’s CTF Finance Centre is emblematic of a greater shift in Chinese urbanism that has been happening over the past several years.
KPF Principal Forth Bagley was interviewed for the segment, addressing how the building represents a turning point in the development of Chinese cities, between an era of grand architectural gestures and an era emphasizing the local context of the built environment and the specific culture of a place.
“Architecture has a unique responsibility to help cultures define themselves,” said Bagley. Discussing the use of terra cotta on the towers façade, Bagley continues, “For instance, the use of terra cotta was very much a conscious decision to inject into the architecture an indigenous craft that was specific to Guangzhou as a city.”