Design Concept - Bird's Nest

5/23/2018 Design Concept - Bird's Nest

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BEIJING'S OLYMPIC STADIUM

by Herzog and DeMeuron

a birds nest into.

.a stadium


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INTRODUCTION

Beijing National Stadium is located at north 4th ring of Beijing city, on the south part of theBeijing Olympic Green. It was designed by the Pritzer-Prize-winningSwissarchitects Jacques Herzog and Piere de Meuron, with artistconsultantAi Weiwei. It iscommonly known as the Birds Nest.

Ten cities submitted bids to host the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics, five of whichmade the IOC Executive Committee's shortlist. On July 13, 2001 The IOC president JuanAntonio Samaranch announced that the host city of the 2008 Olympic Games would beBeijing. It would be a national event and a symbolic showcase through which the centralgovernment of China would demonstrate to the world the country's economic achievements.In 2002, the Beijing Municipal Planning Commission held an international competition forthe design of the main stadium. As the building would host the opening and closingceremonies, as well as the track and field events, the original competitionbrief included thefollowing main criteria (Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad,2002):

A stadium capacity of approximately 100,000 people during the games (to be reduced toapproximately 80 000 afterwards).

A multi-functional design, to efficiently incorporate a range of uses in the future. An emphasis on green building and advanced technology.Thedesign teams invited to take part in the competition included eight teams from outsideChina, threejoint venturesand two Chinese design institutes (Xuefei R. 2008pages 175-190). All 13 competition schemes were displayed at the Beijing Exhibition Centre in March2003, attracting thousands of visitors. At the end of the exhibition, it was announced that theBirds Nest scheme had been selected, both by the jury and by public voting (Tony C 2009,P5-P8).The winning design emphasised the pure shape of the stadium, with its interwoven grid-likestructures producing a dramatic visual effect. The BMPC praised the design commentingthat 'the pure, simple and powerful building shape blends all into a harmonious whole,

and the entire building gives a strong sense of dynamics and vigor." (Beijing MunicipalPlanning Commission. 2004)At the time thearchitectural competition for the Beijing National Stadium was announced,Herzog & de Meuron and ArupSport (Arup's multidisciplinary practice specialising insportsarchitecture)were already working together on the Allianz Arena in Munich. Thissuccessful creativepartnership was based on a shared desire to innovate, Herzog & deMeuron creating unique buildings with strong local cultural context, and Arup designingstadiums that would perform for spectators, athletes, and operators.

SITE LAYOUT

To understand just how important the Beijing Olympics are to China, you have only to lookat where the Olympic Green has been built. " (Architectural Influence, 2009). The NationalStadium is located in the southern part of the Olympic Green,masterplanned by Sasaki

Associates and covers an area on the north side of Beijing close to the city's central axis.The Stadium is the centrepiece of the Olympic Green, on an irregular quadrangle ofapproximately 20.4ha. As the Aurp Journal stated, the terrain is relatively flat, with groundelevations ranging from 42m to 47m, highest at the south-west corner and lowest at thenorth-east corner. The position was chosen so that there would be a gradual rise in levelfrom the city roads in the north-east, forming a gentle slope up to the stadium plinth. Theplinth connects to the main concourse, level 1 of the stadium. (The Aurp Journal, 2009)
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DESIGN

Though the Beijing National Stadium is often known as the Birds Nest, the originalinspiration was actually from a combination of local Chinese art forms - the crackle glazedpottery that is local to Beijing, and the heavily veined Chinese scholar stones. Howeverwhen the artist Ai WeiWel first saw the proposal he quickly drew a bird in a tree. A

panelised approach gave way to infinite lines of structure and the name Birds Nest quicklybecame synonymous with the project.Like most modern stadia, theBird's Nest was designed 'inside out', beginning with thecompetitive field in the centre and then the seating stands around it for 91,000 spectators,designed to promote an exciting atmosphere that would spur athletes on to deliver topperformances. The tiered seating is arranged with as few gaps as possible to preserve ahomogeneous impression. The distinctive lines of the underside of the roof are concealedbehind acoustic panels so that spectators can concentrate on the competitive field.Every game has its own thrilling 'I was there' moments, when athletes perform miraclesand new records are set. The team wanted to create a stadium that would harness andamplify this excitement in the way the world's best loved venues do." (J Parrish. 2009, p8-plO) Thearchitects'ambition was to create not only an instantly recognisable symbol of

China's culture, but also the most exciting stadium in Olympichistory.The form of the bowland the distribution of seating largely determine the other design aspects of the stadium,including the shape and structure of the roof, the levels and locations of the concourses andpremium facilities, and the amount of natural light and ventilation reaching the competitivefield. The team worked closely with the international Olympic and local organisingcommittees to streamline and rationalise the on-field facilities. The result is a more compactbowl with less distance between the spectators and the track.

A skilful balancing of several key criteria is involved in this project. Most importantly,spectators want to be as close as possible to the action and to have a good view of thefield, while the stadium developer needs to accommodate a certain number of seats within adefinedbudget.These requirements often conflict, and as Parrish said, 'Even a tiny

adjustment to the configuration of the seats can have a huge impact on the overall designand cost of the building'.Creating a stadium that will be both an athletic and a soccer venue is always a challenge,'Athletics fields are bigger than football pitches, which means that spectators in thestands are further away from the action. Consequently, people in the upper tiers may not beable to see the ball on the pitch, and the atmosphere - which is so important to a soccercrowd - may be seriously diluted"By using powerful software,designers can quickly generate the initial form of a stadiumwithin defined parameters such as geometric constraints, environmental criteria, and thelimitations ofconstruction materials. Having produced the initial concept, thearchitect canquickly explore and test options by adjusting variables such as the height of a row of seats.TheArchitects used their own specialist parametric modelling software to develop a bowl

geometry optimised for Olympic athletics that would also work well for soccer in legacymode. The team produced 33 versions of the design to fine-tune the form of the bowl. Theydecided that this landmark stadium should have the same distinctive external form in bothOlympic and legacy modes, and so the temporary additional seating needed to beaccommodated within the main envelope. The temporary seats, which are mainly to the rearof the top tier, have the least-favourable views and are located in zones that can beconverted to other revenue- generating use in the legacy mode.
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FAADE / ROOF

The stadium has a gross volume of three million cubic metres and is considered to be theworld's largest enclosed space (Arup journal).The bowl and external form of the Stadium were developed in parallel, with Herzog & deMeuron working on the faade and roof while Arup defined the size of the bowl and

proposed an optimised roof structure. The load-bearing frame for the stadium looks chaoticwithout any hierarchy of structure, but it is in fact very rigorously designed. There are 24portal girders aligned in a very regular pattern. This primary structure is divided at irregularintervals by secondary structures. The Arup journal (1/2009) states that: the seeminglyaccidental arrangement of steel members that forms the envelope makes it almostimpossible to distinguish between the primary structural elements supporting the roof, thesecondary staircase structures, and the tertiary elements that add to the random effect.The roof structure spans a 313m x 266m space, closely enveloping the bowl andconcourses to form both faade and roof, The faade incorporates the stadiums mainstaircases. The result is a compact and sinuous external form uninterrupted by masts,arches or stair cores. While the faade is open, a roof covering made of single-layerETFEmembranes stretched between the steelwork sections protects the spectators

from wind and rain.The steel structure is painted light grey, contrasting with the red-painted external concretewall of the bowl, which is clearly visible through the faade. This creates a variety ofimpressive visual effects, particularly when lit at night.The Birds Nest was described in the Times of London as the world's most conic building inthis decade of iconic buildings". It now operates as a major tourist attraction and serves asthe centre of international and domestic sports competition and recreation activities.

The mythology:

The spectacular Bird's Nest stadium, hailed as the finest arena in the world and the

centrepiece of the most expensive Olympics in history, is full of hidden symbolism.

In Chinese mythology, the sun is represented by a circle and the moon by a square,

reflected by the shape of the bird's nest and the Water Cube aquatic centre opposite,

reinforced when the venues are lit at night, red for the Bird's Nest and blue for the Water

Cube.

The shapes also echo the Chinese symbols for male and female, and are built either

side of the north-south axis road which runs in a perfect straight line for three miles

through Beijing, centred on the Forbidden City.

The design:

Designed by Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, the stadium has a revolutionary

design, which was chosen at the end of a six month long international competition.
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Itcomprises an outer skeleton of 42,000 tons of steel, making it three times as heavy as

the proposed London 2012 stadium, and an inner 'skin' of double-layered plastic which

keeps out wind and rain and filters out UVA light.

It is designed to last for 100 years and withstand a force eight magnitude earthquake.

Architectural critics have said the National Stadium, to use its official name, sets

standards of construction which may not be surpassed for decades.

Until they designed the Bird's Nest, Herzog & de Meuron were best known for

converting London's Bankside power station into Tate Modern and for designing the

tyre-shaped Allianz Arena in Munich for the 2006 World Cup.

The design resembling a birds nest was inspired from the art of Chinese ceramics and

its purpose is to leave the spectators wondering which aspects of the structure are

functional and which are only included for design purposes.

The stadium is located in the Olympic Green and one of the main ideas behind the

design was to create an icon for China and the city of Beijing. The shape was chosen so

that it would express something related to the Chinese traditions and culture; its circular

form represents Heaven while the adjacent square resembles the Chinese symbol for

Earth. The consultant for the making of this complex shape was Chinese artist Ai

Weiwei.

Beijing National Stadium 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 chief architect Li Xinggang. In order to achieve the

design of a stadium that was porous while also being a collective building, a public

vessel, the team studied Chinese ceramics. These to main conceptual ideas gave birth

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.

The retractable roof required a complex steel structure which was either covered or kept

just the way it was as part of the design. The team developed random-looking

additional steel to blend the supports into the rest of the stadium. In spite of the random

appearance, each half of the stadium is nearly identical and together, they complete the

design and make it look like a single, unitary shape. Due to the seismic activity in the

area the architects decided to remove the retractable roof along with 9,000 seats from

the design. The ensemble was lightened and the costs were reduced dramatically too.


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Earthquake resistance of Beijing National stadium

As China is surrounded by some of the deadliest fault lines, the stadium had to be

earthquake proof. The building structure of Beijing Olympics stadium had to pass

vigorous seismic tests. J. Parrish was given the responsibility of making the Birds nest

earthquake proof. The immediate problem was that the stadium was so large that itwould not shake uniformly altogether with the same frequency. J. Parrish came up with

the solution to construct concrete bow in parts, then surround it with metal bow.

Dividing the concrete building structure of Beijing stadium into 6 parts was the key to

safety. Being isolated, each part could move flexibly and independently in earthquake

so that it could absorb the energy by its free movement, instead of being broken into

pieces by this energy. Then it was to be surrounded by metal bow. So that, if in the

worst case concrete fails, the steel would be unaffected and would support the structure

frame.

National Stadium (Birds Nest)

The Chinese National Stadium was the 2008 Olympic Games most striking structure,recognized all over the world. The buildings dynamic form and vast scale create a newicon for China and the city of Beijing.The circular shape of the stadium represents 'heaven', while the adjacent square formof theNational Aquatics Center (Water Cube),also design-engineered by Arup, is areflection of the Chinese symbol for Earth.The structural form of the stadium is popularly described as a 'birds nest', with itspattern inspired by Chinese-style 'crazed pottery'. Seemingly random, the patternabides by complex rules for whichadvanced geometry was defined.To ensure a compact and optimum design, the seating bowl was established first, withthe outer faade wrapping around it. The design ensures that all spectators are as closeas possible to the action and have clear sight lines.

AsBeijing is located in one of the worlds most active seismic zones, Arup usedadvancedseismic analysis to test the stadium under various earthquake conditions andensure that the structure can withstand major shocks.

Prior to the opening of theBeijing NationalStadium, the stadium was already consideredan icon for Beijing and a symbol for modernChina.
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The Beijing National Stadium is one of the most imposing stadiums in the world and itsapparently casual structure has immediately conquered the people of Beijing whorenamed it The Birds Nest for the complexgeometry of the outer faade.

The stadium was projected by architectsHerzog & de Meuron in collaboration with

ArupSport and China Architecture Design &Research Group to host the 2008 OlympicGames. It had a total spectator capacity of91 000 but was reduced to 80 000 after theOlympic event.

The stadium is characterized by a largeconcrete structure supporting the tiers laid inan imposing independent steel structure that

represents both the faade and the roof thatlooks like a interweaved net of beams madeof steel.


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The structure made of steel is actually the

result of a complex geometry, based on amain structure of 24 pillars andcharacterized by curving beams thatdisappear in the ground, reappear along theentire faade of the stadium and curve totangentially go towards the central openingof the roof. The structure is completed by aseries of secondary beams and containsmore than 7 500 separate elements,mounting to a total weight of 42 tons and atotal length of 36 km. In accordance with the

design complexity, the stadium also required special attention to an increased risk ofearthquakes that are common in Beijing.

A semitransparent membrane called EFTAwas inserted between the several beams ofsteel that the roof is rich of. This membraneenables the sunlight to go through and tooffer the stadium a sense of lightness (whichis one the typical concepts of the BirdsNest).

According to Chinese symbolism, when seen incontraposition from the nearby National

Aquatics Centre (the new Olympic venue forwater sports), the circular shape of the stadiumrepresents paradise, while the quadratic form ofthe National Aquatics Centre (also known as theWater Cube) represents the earth.

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Design Concept - Bird's Nest