China National Stadium
- "Bird's Nest"
The Beijing National Stadium, also
known as the bird's nest will be the main track and
field stadium for the 2008 Summer Olympics and will
be host to the Opening and Closing ceremonies. In 2002
Government officials engaged architects worldwide in
a design competition. Pritzker Prize-winning architects
Herzog & de Meuron collaborated with ArupSport and
China Architecture Design & Research Group to win
the competition. The stadium will seat as many as 100,000
spectators during the Olympics, but this will be reduced
to 80,000 after the games. It has replaced the original
intended venue of the Guangdong Olympic Stadium. The
stadium is 330 metres long by 220 metres wide, and is
69.2 metres tall. The 250,000 square metre (gross floor
area) stadium is to be built with 36 km of unwrapped
steel, with a combined weight of 45,000 tonnes. The
stadium will cost up to 3.5 billion yuan (422,873,850
USD/ 325,395,593 EUR). The ground was broken in December
2003, and construction started in March 2004, but was
halted by the high construction cost in August 2004.
In the new design, the roof of the
stadium had been omitted from the design. Experts say
that this will make the stadium safer, whilst reducing
construction costs. The construction of the Olympic
buildings will continue once again in the beginning
of 2005.
In depth
The stadium's appearance is one of
synergy, with no distinction made between the facade
and the superstructure. The structural elements mutually
support each other and converge into a grid-like formation
- almost like a bird's nest with its interwoven twigs.
The spatial effect of the stadium is novel and radical,
yet simple and of an almost archaic immediacy, thus
creating a unique historical landmark for the Olympics
of 2008.
The stadium was conceived as a large
collective vessel, which makes a distinctive and unmistakable
impression both from a distance and when seen from up
close. It meets all the functional and technical requirements
of an Olympic National Stadium, but without communicating
the insistent sameness of technocratic architecture
dominated by large spans and digital screens.
Visitors walk through this formation and enter the spacious
ambulatory that runs full circle around the stands.
From there, one can survey the circulation of the entire
area including the stairs that access the three tiers
of the stands. Functioning like an arcade or a concourse,
the lobby is a covered urban space with restaurants
and stores that invite visitors to stroll around. Just
as birds stuff the spaces between the woven twigs of
their nests with a soft filler, the spaces in the structure
of the stadium will be filled with inflated ETFE cushions.
Originally, on the roof, the cushions were to be mounted
on the outside of the structure to make the roof completely
weatherproof, but the roof has been omitted from the
design in 2004.
While the rain was to be collected
for rainwater recuperation, the sunlight was to filter
through the translucent roof, providing the lawn with
essential ultraviolet radiation. On the facade, the
inflated cushions will be mounted on the inside of the
structure where necessary, e.g. to provide wind protection.
Since all of the facilities -- restaurants, suites,
shops and restrooms -- are all self-contained units,
it is possible to do largely without a solid, enclosed
facade. This allows for natural ventilation of the stadium,
which is the most important aspect of the stadium's
sustainable design.
The sliding roof was an integral
part of the stadium structure. When it was to be closed,
it would have converted the stadium into a covered arena;
however, the sliding roof was eliminated in an effort
to cut costs and increase overall safety of the radical
new structure.
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