Bush set to open massive US embassy in China

06/08/08  BEIJING :US President George W. Bush on Friday will open the massive new US embassy in Beijing, which its designers hope will stand as a testament to the crucial, but delicate, China-US relationship.

The ribbon-cutting at one of America's biggest embassies comes during Bush's trip to Beijing for the Olympic opening ceremony, and just days after the Chinese opened their own sparkling new complex in Washington.

During a sneak peek at the Beijing facility, the US ambassador to China, Clark Randt, described the two state-of-the-art structures as "tangible symbols of the growth and importance of our bilateral relationship."

The US embassy here is only the third that Bush has opened during his presidency -- after Kabul and Kigali. When he arrives, he will be faced with a wall of intimidating concrete.

US architectural firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill used "architectural concrete" without any plaster or paint as a central feature, giving the complex -- which will house around 950 staff -- an austere feel.

"Our collection of buildings here is very serious, there is a palette of grey and beige... in keeping with the level of diplomacy between America and China," said State Department architect Jay Holleran, who oversaw the design.

Indeed, one of the few breaks from the subdued tones of the stone, concrete, steel and glass structure is an oversized technicolour tulip sculpture by US artist Jeff Koons, which sits in one of the ornamental pools that fill the space between the outside wall and the main building.

The pools are an example of how the architects have taken advantage of the stringent safety standards now required at all US embassies -- interior buildings must be at least 100 feet (30 metres) from the outside wall.

Koons's work can be appreciated by passers-by in the city's northeast embassy district through low windows in the wall -- but those windows are built to withstand a car bomb attack.

The old US embassy was the scene of riots by hundreds of Chinese protesters in 1999, in a rare protest permitted in the capital after the US had mistakenly bombed China's embassy in Belgrade.

But while the focus on physical defences -- reinforced by US Marines housed on-site -- is quite visible, protecting embassy workers from Chinese spies was also an integral part of the construction.

During the 18 months that the main eight-storey chancery building in the centre of the compound was being built, all Chinese workers were barred from the site.

Every fitting was made in the United States and every US worker went through a tough security clearance -- measures that Holleran says were justified in order to avoid a repeat of the Soviet success in compromising the US embassy in Moscow during the Cold War.

"The difference... between 300 million dollars and 434 million (the total cost of the project) went to giving us the assurance that we needed that this building would not be compromised in the way Moscow was," Holleran said.

In recent months, US authorities and lawmakers have criticised China's spying activities, just one of the issues that has sparked worry in Washington, along with human rights, currency policy and China's growing military strength.

Despite such concerns, the new embassy aims to embody improved ties, so vital for global business.

Many of the construction materials were sourced in China, alleyways are lined with bamboo trees, and many of the non-sensitive areas were built with both American and Chinese workers.

Elements of traditional feng shui have been also incorporated to give the building good energy, although the use of huge windows to the south and concrete to the north also improved energy efficiency and increased light, the designers said.

"Our relationship with China is hopefully cemented in the cement and concrete we have put here," said William Prior, the project director.




--
Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: +250-08470205
Home: +250-55104140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali-Rwanda
East Africa
Blog: http://www.cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID : Kayisa66