CCTV underpants and hemorrhoids in the Shanghai press

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Shanghai's press, often eager to mock the aspirations of Beijingers who also want their city to look like a Bladerunner set, have joined in.

The high circulation pensioner's read of choice Xinmin Evening News reprinted verbatim an Internet post about the building's name, with illustrations, on November 15. The popular women's shopping tabloid Shanghai Times (申江服务导报) reprinted the whole story on November 19, crediting Xinmin Evening News.

In translation:

Big Underpants or Knowledge Window?

Recently there have been netizens posting about the name of the new CCTV building being "Knowledge Window" or Zhichuang (智窗). The netizens say the main reasons for naming it Zhichuang are:



1. CCTV is the national TV broadcaster, an important window for broadcasting information and knowledge to the entire country and the world.



2. The central part of the new building's polygon shape gives it the appearance of a giant window



3. The whole building looks like the legs and buttocks of a person who is squatting, and the name Zhichuang is also a homophone for zhichuang (痔疮) or hemorrhoids. 




On November 13, this writer contacted the CCTV office and was told by staff that proposals for the name were being collected internally but that the final name has not yet been confirmed... 



...According to this writer's understanding, collection of naming ideas is currently happening on CCTV's forum websites. Some of the names being considered are the following nine:


Harmonious Gate (和谐之门)
Happy Geometry (幸福几何)
Peak of the Ages (时代尖峰)
New Angle (新视角)
TV Magic Cube or TV Rubik's Cube （TV魔方)
Future Window (未来之窗)
Great Gate of Luck (幸运大门)
Pattern Space (样式空间, untranslatable pun on Chinese for CCTV)
3D Window (多维窗).



Amongst these, the current leading choice is New Angle. 

Aside from the official names, netizens have been pooling their wisdom and suggested many names inspired by the building's shape, for example:



Big Underpants (大裤衩)

Wild Man (猛男)

Slanting Stride (斜跨)

Trestle (劈腿)

High Altitude Kiss (高空对吻).



Of these, big underpants is already popular with some netizens saying that it is most suitable while others say it is "vulgar". 



According to sources, the CCTV building was designed bu Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. He has said of the work that the "square circle expresses a kind of unity of the production process, the thought is expresses encourages connections and opposes isolation."

For old time's sake, here is the first Danwei TV episode, about four of Beijing's landmark new buildings, shot in March 2006.