Author Description

In this fifth entry in the influential essay series sponsored by the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture, Dutch novelist and critic Edzard Mik visits Rem Koolhaas's CCTV building in Bejing and writes a lyrical 'road essay' about Koolhaas, Beijing and on being an artist in the twenty-first century. No building in the world possesses more ''Wow Factor'' than the monumental, imaginative tower in Bejing's central business district. Opened in 2009, the glittering archway - refered to as the ''twisted doughnut'' by local wags - serves as headquarters for Central China television. Each of these beautifully designed pocket-sized books is a small window on a very large idea or project.