They are commonly referred as the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube respectively due to their appearance shape. They are two typical sports buildings in the Olympic Green and were constructed for use throughout the 29th Olympic Games and Paralympics taken place in Beijing, China. The National stadium and the National Aquatics Center attracted the world's eyes during the Olympics and successfully completed the great Games with numerous applauses.
The National Stadium (Bird's Nest)
Colloquially, the national stadium is called the Bird's Nest due to its outside shape. It is the main stadium for the 2008 Olympics, designed by the winner of Pritzker Architecture Prize Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron and the Chinese architect Li Xinggang.
The profile of the Stadium is made up of huge gate-type steel frames and 24 girder poles and its end face is a saddle ,the long axis 332.3 m, the minor axis 296.4 m, the culminating point 68.5 m and the low point 42.8 m. The roof uses diaphragm which is not only waterproof but good for the growth of the indoor lawn attribute to its transparent material quality. The Stadium is like a bird’s nest and its structure is exposed outside without any redundant decoration. The natural design has been selected as one of the world's ten greatest architectures in the decade. It is an integration of Chinese traditional arts and the modern design, implying that the hopes are being bred in the cradle.
The Bird’s Nest was also designed for post Olympics use. Now it undertakes various competitions and holds large –scale entertainment and cultural activities.
The National Aquatics Center (Water Cube)
Water Cube |
Its nickname is the Water Cube. Located alongside the National Stadium, it is an aquatics center to host swimming, diving and synchronized swimming events during the Beijing Olympics. The Water Cube design was chosen from 10 proposals in an international architectural
competition for the aquatic center project: the [H2O] 3 design. It was a massive engineering project and had obtained the donation amount of 0.94 billion from Hongkong and Macao compatriots and overseas Chinese in 101 countries. Together with the Bird's Nest, it has become the new landmark of Beijing City.
The Water Cube originates from a Chinese traditional thought- the heaven is round and the earth is square. It is the rule that keeps everything in an order and guarantees their harmony relationship. That the Bird's Nest is round and the Water Cube is cuboid applies this traditional idea well. Besides, it is modern with advanced archetechtural technology and peculiar design. Its outside seems like bubbles with the water molecule geometry. It could be presented so vividly due to the use of ETFE membrane which is corrosion resistant, self - cleaning and crush resistant. The application is world leading. In addition, the design considered the environmental protection in a large degree, for example, it makes uses of solar energy as the electricity source and it realizes water recycle to a great extent.
After the Olympics, the Water Cube has also functioned as a water park for mass entertainment in addition to an aquatic arena.
Entrance fees:
Bird's Nest: 50RMB
Water Cube: 30RMB