Bird Nest
Located at the southern part of the Olympic Green in Beijing, the National Stadium is the main stadium of the 29th Olympiad in 2008. Occupying an area of 21 hectares, it has a floor space of 258,000 square meters. Its seating capacity amounts to 91,000, including 11,000 temporary seats.The venue will host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, the track and field competitions, and the football finals. After the Olympics, the stadium will become a large-scale sports and entertainment facility for the residents of Beijing -- an architectural landmark and Olympic legacy.
The main body of the National Stadium has a design life of 100 years. Its fire resistance capability is first-rate, and it can withstand an eight-magnitude earthquake. The water-resistance capability of its underground project is also first-rate.
The main body of the National Stadium is a colossal saddle-shaped elliptic steel structure weighing 42,000 tons. It is 333 meters long from north to south, 294 meters wide from east to west, and 69 meters tall.
The main body's elements support each other and converge into a grid formation, just like a bird's nest with interlocking branches and twigs. Being a seven-story shear wall system, the stadium's stand has a concrete framework. The upper part of the stand and the stadium's steel structure are separated from each other, but both are based on a joint footing. The roof of the National Stadium is covered by a double-layer membrane structure, with a transparent ETFE membrane fixed on the upper part of the roofing structure and a translucent PTFE membrane fixed on its lower part. A PTFE acoustic ceiling is attached to the side walls of the inner ring.
The construction of the National Stadium followed the PPP mode (Private + Public + Partnership ), and it is co-owned by the Beijing State-Owned Assets Management Co. Ltd (BSAM), who shares 58 percent of the total assets, and the China International Trust and Investment (CITIC) Consortium, who holds the rest of the assets.
Composed of BSAM and CITIC, the National Stadium Co. is responsible for financing, construction, operation and management of the project. CITIC has a post-Games licensed operation right for 30 years.
The National Stadium is a complex structure, posing great difficulties for its designers and constructors.
1. Large and heavy steel parts
The fracture surface of the largest truss column -- the major load-bearing component of the roof structure -- measures 25m x 20m, with a height of 67m. The maximum weight of a single column is 500 tons. The main truss is 12m tall. The maximum span between and through the two columns amounts to 145.577+112.788m, and the maximum span between the two trusses stands at 102.39m. Each truss column is of great bulk and weight, and so are the main trusses.
2. Complex nodal joints
Because the structural elements in the project are box-typed, many elements intersect spatially among the steel parts. Besides, the complex nature of secondary structures has resulted in the diversity of nodal joints of the main structures, requiring accurate and sophisticated manufacturing and installation.
3. Tight schedule
In addition to the huge workload, the allotted construction period is short. Having started on December 24, 2003, the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2007, with the inauguration time scheduled for March 2008. Therefore many operations have to be conducted on a limited terrain, causing a very tense situation.
4. The hoisting work extended across the winter and spring, so the workers have had to defy both rainy and cold conditions in the winter to continue their work.
The workers have overcome tremendous engineering and technical challenges in the process of construction:
1. Difficult work arrangement
They need to do very detailed research of operations and follow meticulous arrangements to complete various kinds of work within a limited workspace.
2. Difficult hoisting of steel parts
To facilitate the assembly of the steel parts, the workers have to use a prone position to assemble the truss columns, which requires a turnover process before they are hoisted. The choice of the hoist points and lug hooks pose great difficulties in the face of bulky and cumbersome steel parts, and the change of pulling stress from three directions must be taken into consideration. The workers need to meticulously rectify angles and positions of the box-typed sectional parts to ensure accurate abutment during the hoisting process.
3. Difficult stabilizing process
They also have to fight the heavy wind load and keep the stability of the steel parts by following a strict working order and use lateral stability measures including the use of anchoring method and wind-holding ropes.
4. Difficult welding
The welders not only face a huge work volume, but also have to work on both the thin steel sheets and thick steel slabs, on high-strength and cast steel elements, and take downward, vertical or overhead positions while welding. They face temperature changes, steel deformation and intensive labor. They need to work above ground, in winter rain and under windy conditions.
5. Difficult installation
The workers face difficulties in ensuring accurate installation as the steel parts and the related gigs and fixtures can be deformed easily under their own dead weight and the change of temperatures. The workers must take pre-installation measures to rectify and relieve the errors that might occur in the process of installation.
Water Cube
The National Aquatic Center, known as the Water Cube, is one of the most dramatic and exciting venues to feature sport events for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Resembling a gigantic blue box of bubble-wrap, the Water Cube looks iridescent, elegant and magic.
Located in the Beijing Olympic Green, it covers an area of nearly 80,000 square meters and stands alongside the National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest, the two iconic structures for the Beijing Olympics.
But compared to the elliptic steel-framed stadium, the rectangular Water Cube appears more light and tender, and presents a beautifully sharp visual contrast.
Designed by a joint Chinese-Australian consortium, it is inspired by the natural formation of soap bubbles to give a random, organic appearance.
In July 2003, the consortium of Arup, architecture firm PTW, the CSCEC (China State Construction and Engineering Corporation) and the CSCEC Shenzhen Design Institute won the international design competition for the National Aquatics Center for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Work on the Water Cube began at the end of 2003 and four years later, a wonder was finally created and made its debut in January 2008 in the spotlight of the whole world.
With a seating capacity of 17,000, the center will host the swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo events during the 2008 Olympics.
After the Aug. 8-24 Games, the Water Cube will be refurbished into a multi-functional recreation center, providing various aquatic facilities for both citizens and athletes.
In daylight, the Water Cube shines as a blue translucent spectacle; while at night, it offers spectators a glowing crystal palace with LED-lit bubbles.
"This is an excellent and wonderful facility...and the best aquatic venue by far," said Richard Kevan Gosper, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Press Commission chairperson.
It looks blue, but it's green.
As big, eye-catching Olympics architecture goes, nothing may beas sustainable as the Water Cube.
Adopting an ETFE pneumatic die cushion structure, the Water Cube is the world's largest membrane structure building.
The 100,000 square meters of the Teflon-like translucent plastic ETFE that make up the building's bubble cladding allow in more solar heat than glass, making it easier to heat the building, which cuts energy costs by up to 30 percent. That's especially important for a swimming pool, which requires an enormous amount of heating.
Besides the solar energy, all backwash water of the center is filtered and returned to the swimming pools.
With art and excelling design, concise and pure appearance, as well as eco-friendly technology, the Water Cube is definitely a classic of architecture in the Olympic history.
Resembling a gigantic blue box of bubble-wrap, the Water Cube looks iridescent, elegant and magic.
Located in the Beijing Olympic Green, it covers an area of nearly 80,000 square meters and stands alongside the National Stadium, nicknamed the Bird's Nest, the two iconic structures for the Beijing Olympics.
But compared to the elliptic steel-framed stadium, the rectangular Water Cube appears more light and tender, and presents a beautifully sharp visual contrast.
Designed by a joint Chinese-Australian consortium, it is inspired by the natural formation of soap bubbles to give a random, organic appearance.
In July 2003, the consortium of Arup, architecture firm PTW, the CSCEC (China State Construction and Engineering Corporation) and the CSCEC Shenzhen Design Institute won the international design competition for the National Aquatics Center for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Work on the Water Cube began at the end of 2003 and four years later, a wonder was finally created and made its debut in January 2008 in the spotlight of the whole world.
With a seating capacity of 17,000, the center will host the swimming, diving, synchronized swimming and water polo events during the 2008 Olympics.
After the Aug. 8-24 Games, the Water Cube will be refurbished into a multi-functional recreation center, providing various aquatic facilities for both citizens and athletes.
In daylight, the Water Cube shines as a blue translucent spectacle; while at night, it offers spectators a glowing crystal palace with LED-lit bubbles.
"This is an excellent and wonderful facility...and the best aquatic venue by far," said Richard Kevan Gosper, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Press Commission chairperson.
It looks blue, but it's green.
As big, eye-catching Olympics architecture goes, nothing may beas sustainable as the Water Cube.
Adopting an ETFE pneumatic die cushion structure, the Water Cube is the world's largest membrane structure building.
The 100,000 square meters of the Teflon-like translucent plastic ETFE that make up the building's bubble cladding allow in more solar heat than glass, making it easier to heat the building, which cuts energy costs by up to 30 percent. That's especially important for a swimming pool, which requires an enormous amount of heating.
Besides the solar energy, all backwash water of the center is filtered and returned to the swimming pools.
With art and excelling design, concise and pure appearance, as well as eco-friendly technology, the Water Cube is definitely a classic of architecture in the Olympic history.
Hou Bin
The man with an unbreakable olympic spirit. This is his story -My name is Hou Bin, I'm 33-years-old this year.
When I was nine, I lost my left leg in an accident, and have since mostly used a wheelchair to get around. My tell myself to "keep going" everyday, to not succumb to the fear of my disability.
My history with athletics began about 15 years ago; I'd say that's when my relationship with the Olympics first started. I really like the feeling I get when I'm in mid-air, like I'm flying. This is why I decided to practice the high jump, so that I could enjoy that feeling. But not only did I want to participate in this event, I also wanted to stand on that top podium during the Paralympics Games. My dream has come true. I took the gold in the 1996, 2000, and 2004 Paralympic Games in the F42 high jump event and was chosen as the first International Paralympic Committee Ambassador, as well as a torchbearer for the 2008 Beijing Games.
The road to the Olympics was quite difficult, and along the way, I met with many frustrating obstacles; success was achieved through suffering some pain and doing a lot of hard work. I remember when I first started training, there were no specialty centers for people with disabilities, so I trained with fully able-bodied athletes. Some days in winters, Dongbei can reach 20 degrees below zero. For those other athletes, bicycling to work was difficult, but imagine how much more difficult it was for me! After the other children finished their homework, they were allowed to have free time to do what they wanted; not me, night after night, with only my parents' company, I would have to continue to practice. My prosthetic leg has become detached to my body numerous times, and because of it, I've also experienced physical hurt; once when I was on a train, I tripped and bumped my head. Afraid to lose face, I refused any sort of drugs, biting my lips through the pain. I've also cried much, and had instances when tears would just stream down my face…so many difficulties, but not once did I consider giving up.
Sure, I had one appendage less than my classmates in school, but that didn't stop me from being the highest and longest jumper or the fastest runner. I was a happy person, and took advantage of life more than full-bodied people. I was the first athlete with a disability to enter university in China, graduating from Harbin Institute of Physical Education in 1999. When I lived in Xiamen, I worked part-time to support my part-time schooling at Xiamen University. I have also been in commercials, acted in films, presided over ceremonies…my singing and painting aren't bad, either. All of my hard work started to pay off in 1994, from my participation in an international competition where I took the title in the F42 high jump event. In August of 1996, I claimed China's first goal in the Paralympics for the high jump, and defended my title in the 2000 Sydney Games and the 2004 Athens Games.
I was very honored to have been selected as a torchbearer for the Beijing Olympic Games. When I won the awards for my event in previous Olympic Games, people of the world could experience the spirit of the Chinese national flag. When I carried the Olympic torch in Xiamen in May, it was to spread the Olympic spirit. Those 200 meters were the most memorable in my life.
I have so much to do now. Before, so many people helped me; now, it's my turn to help others. I want to spread the Paralympic spirit, to help people to better understand those with disabilities, because you don't have to be an Olympic gold medalist to be special.
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