Olympic Stadium offers a tantalising blend of Swiss craftsmanship and Chinese ingenuity
The Olympic Stadium resembles a bird's nest with a latticed design enclosing the whole stadium within curved steel-net walls. It was expected to be the pride of a nation upon completion, but is already capturing the imagination of the world. Conceived as a large, collective vessel, and sitting on a gentle rise at the centre of the Olympic complex, the stadium's design was a joint venture of Swiss craftsmanship and Chinese ingenuity. It was the work of Switzerland's Herzog & de Meuron Architekten AG and the China Design and Architecture Institute, which beat two other short-listed entries for the conceptual design.
Work on the stadium began late last year and is expected to be completed by 2007. Its designers boast that every part of the stadium would be functional. Engineers and architects believe it combines modern design with the spirit of traditional Chinese architecture.
The stadium is located in the south of Olympic Green and will cover an area of 145,000 square metres. It will be able to accommodate 80,000 permanent seats with the capability for an additional 20,000 seats.
The stadium also meets all the functional and technical requirements for an Olympic stadium - but there is more to it than meets the eye. Spectators can actually walk through the central formation of the structure around the stands and just enjoy the view of the entire stadium, including the stairs leading up to the three stands. The stadium lobby will function as a lobby or shopping mall, where restaurants and shops will be located.
The stadium will be a gigantic bird's nest in more ways than one as the exterior will have inflated cushions acting as a filler - just as birds fill spaces in their nests between woven twigs. The cushions will help make the roof completely weatherproof, while helping the structure become windproof, too.
