Tuesday 29 January 2008

The new Wonders of Beijing

One of the new architectural wonders of Beijing is the National Aquatics Center, also known as the Water Cube. The venue for the swimming events of the 2008 Olympics is finished after four years of construction! It was opened for journalist yesterday and opens again on Thursday for a trial event.

It looks great! A fantastic and impressing surface of soap bubbles that looks even better when illuminated at night time. I read it is a combination of Chinese and Australian design work. 42 Olympic gold medals are going to be won here.

The other architectural wonders I am referring to are - still under construction -the CCTV tower:
CCTV tower
and the Chinese National Olympic Stadium, also known as the Bird Nest:


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Update:
The Water Cube was initially designed by PTW Architects (Australia), CSCEC (China State Construction Engineering Corporation) and ARUP (Australia) developing the structure. I am impressed in how many major Beijing construction projects ARUP is involved: in all projects mentioned above and more.

1 comment:

Suzy said...

Do you know who the architectural firms are that designed them swimming stadium? It's pretty cool. I haven't been to Beijing in years and I'm sure I won't recognise it the next time I go!

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