However, the story of Bird's Nest, the Beijing's main Olympic stadium, is a different one. When it was built, it won admiration from a widespread audience. The giant stadium was designed by two Swiss architects, Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, with help from the Chinese architect Li Xinggang. Like a "nest" for breeding, it implies humanity's hope for the future.
|
|
|
This photo of the "Bird's Nest" was take on December 1, 2008.
|
Wang Jianguo, president of the School of Architecture, Southeast University, believes, "Without economic power, there can be no wealth in architecture. If the national economy were not strong enough, such imaginative designs would not be transformed into reality."
Bird's Nest makes use of domestic high strength Q460 steel. The project was earth-shattering in terms of its scale and the unprecedented complexity of its construction. Placing the highest demands on its steel structure, it represents the most advanced technology.
Bird's Nest has been attracting people's attention all over the world since the project began in December, 2003. In 2007, The Times included it as one of the greatest construction projects in the world. In 2008, the American magazine Time nominated the ten most influential designs in the world, among which Bird's Nest was listed as the representative of the construction industry.
(China.org.cn by Wang Wei, December 4, 2008)