Posted by picek
Beijing National Aquatics Centre or Water Cube (not really cube but rectangle box in real) at Olympic Green could be even more dramatic building than Birds nest, and it has won several international architectural prizes for design which has been based on Australian-Chinese architectural and engineer teams plans. It is large stadium where they held water sports competitions, with transparent facade of fragile feel and blue colors, all to remind you of water.
The outside 'net' was inspired by bubbles of soap foam formula, and has been build of plastic construction material so that you could actually see a bit through it; more precisely - it was build of ETFE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene) air cushions if that tells you more (the cost for that material was supposed to be 2000 Y per square meter, which was as well cheaper (and lighter) than glass). It took some 3000 bubbles to complete the facade. Very interesting. It is also said they could collect rain water with help of bubbles, so that's good thing and I hope it's actually done since Beijing needs so much of water.
Yet, no matter all poetry behind the plans and architecture, it has already some problems with maintainance and for time of our visit just some 6 months after Olympics the Cube has already been fenced and you were only allow to watch it from distance, like the fine artwork you're just to watch in gallery but not to touch and come any closer for physical conact. So it does feel a bit sour feeling, as architecture is meant for use, not to watch only...or? After all, they promised it would 'live' for at least one century.
Posted by muratkorman
In 2008 Beijing has hosted the Olympics. I watched the opening ceremony on TV and I was very impressed. The Bird's Nest and The Water Cube are amazing structures to look at. I could imagine Michael Phelps becoming a legend in Watercube. In my opinion, Beijing Olympic Games will always have a special place in Olympic history and I was very happy to be on the grounds where all this happened. You can easily reach Olympic Complex by metro and you can walk around the famous structures and take pictures. We haven't entered inside Bird's Nest or Water Cube, but you can do that with admission fees of 50 Yuan for Bird's Nest and 30 Yuan for Water Cube.