nest”. Leading Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was the artistic consultant on the project.
[B]The retractable roof was later removed from the design after inspiring the stadium’s most
recognizable aspect. Ground was broken on 24 December 2003 and the stadium officially
opened on 28 June 2008. A shopping mall and a hotel are planned to be constructed to increase
use of the stadium, which has had trouble attracting events, football and otherwise, after the
Olympics.
[C]In 2001, before Beijing had been awarded, the city held a bidding process to select the
best arena design. Multiple requirements including the ability for post-Olympics use, a
retractable roof and low maintenance costs, were required of each design. The entry list was
narrowed to thirteen final designs.
[D] Of the final thirteen, Li Xinggang of China Architecture Design and Research Group
(CADG) said after he placed the model of the “nest” proposal at the exhibition hall and saw
the rival entries he thought to himself, “We will win this. ” The model was approved as the top
design by a professional panel and later exhibited for the public. Once again, it was selected as
the top design. The “nest scheme” design became official in April 2003.
[E] Beijing National Stadium (BNS) was a joint venture among architects Jacques Herzog
and Pierre de Meuron of Herzog & de Meuron, project architect Stefan Marbach, artist Ai
Weiwei and CADG which was led by the chief architect Li Xinggang. During their first meeting
in 2003, at Basel, the group decided to do something unlike Herzog and de Meuron had
traditionally designed. “China wanted to have something new for this very important stadium”,
Li stated.
[F] In an effort to design a stadium that was “ porous ( 多孔的)” while also being “ a
collective building, a public vessel”, the team studied Chinese ceramics. This line of thought
brought the team to the “ nest scheme”. The stadium consists of two independent structures,
standing 50 feet apart: a red concrete seating bowl and the outer steel frame around it.
[G] In an attempt to hide steel supports for the retractable roof, required in the bidding
process, the team developed the“random-looking additional steel” to blend the supports into the
rest of the stadium. Twenty-four trussed ( 架子) columns encase the inner bowl, each one
weighing 1, 000 tons. Despite the random appearance of the Stadium, each half is nearly
symmetrical(對稱的). After a collapse of a roof at the Charles de Gaulle Airport, Beijing
reviewed all major projects.
[H]It was decided to eliminate the retractable roof, the original inspiration for the “ nest”
design, as well as 9,000 seats from the design. The removal of the elements helped to bring the
project under the reduced construction budget of ＄290 million, from an original ＄500 million.
With the removal of the retractable roof, the building was lightened, which helped it stand up to
seismic(地震的) activity; however, the upper section of the roof was altered to protect fans
from weather.
[I]Enerpac was granted the contract to perform the stage lifting and lowering of the stadium
16
土木工程英語
