The National Stadium which looks like a bird nest is located in Beijing Olympic Green Village. It was designed as the main stadium of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The Olympic events of track and field, football, gavelock, weight throw and discus were held there. It has been opened as a tourist attraction since October 2008, after the Olympics ended. Nowadays, it is used to hold international or domestic sports competitions and recreational activities. In 2022, the opening and closing ceremonies of another important sports event - the Winter Olympic Games were held here.
This magnificent stadium was designed and accomplished together by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Chinese architect Li Xinggang and others. The designers didn't do any redundant disposals to the look of the stadium. They just exposed the steel structures entirely and let them become the most natural appearance. The shape and form of the stadium look like a big nest that embraces and nurses human beings. Also, it looks rather like a cradle, which bears human being's hope for the future.
The construction of the National Stadium started on December 24, 2003. In July 2004, the project was stopped temporarily due to the amendment of the design. In December 27 of the same year, the construction was resumed and finished in March 2008. The total cost of the whole project is about 33 million dollars.
The stadium can accommodate nearly 100 thousand audiences with an area of 25.8 hectares. Its appearance was formed by big steel frames. The top surface is saddle-shaped with a major axis of 1,090 feet (332.3 meters) and a stub axis of 972 feet (296.4 meters). About the height, the stadium is 225 feet (68.5 meters) above the ground at the tallest point and 140 feet (42.8 meters) at the lowest point. The top is covered by semi-transparent air bubble film. This kind of material is waterproof and can make enough sunshine penetrate into the stadium. Owing to that, the lawns in it can grow well.
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