Beijing has pulled out all the stops to make the Beijing Olympics the most spectacular ever. Is it any wonder that the opening ceremony will be held precisely at 8.08pm on 08/08/08?
By KEE HUA CHEE
The 2008 Olympics promises to be the most awesome that money can buy.
The Chinese government has been working 24-hour shifts to ensure that the spectacular venues will be up and running by the time August 8 comes around.
Construction practically began before the ink dried as Beijing won the right to host the 2008 Olympics ahead of such heavyweights as Paris, Osaka, Toronto and Istanbul.
The Chinese government invested RM1.3bil in the National Stadium, nicknamed Bird’s Nest. This particular Games is significant to China due to the once-in-a-lifetime conglomeration of the number 8, the luckiest and most coveted in Chinese cosmology.
Despite her scientific and commercial progress, China is still very much steeped in feng shui and symbolism, which is why the opening ceremony will be held precisely at 08.08pm on 08/08/08. To have one 8 is lucky, but to have five is beyond compare!
August should bring with it good weather, but should luck fail to bring on the blue skies, China already has Plan B. A fleet of planes is reportedly on standby to induce rain using rocket blasts of silver iodine to seed the clouds and clear the grey skies over Beijing prior to the Games.
It is obvious feng shui must have played a part, however minor, in the preparation and construction of the most important buildings. The National Stadium and Olympic City are located in Chaoyang district, which happens to be precisely north of the Forbidden City.
This 600-year-old palatial complex was built on a strict north-south axis facing the Pole Star, and it is said that Chaoyang was chosen as the site denotes progress.
The Bird’s Nest
The flagship of every Olympic is the main stadium, which is where the opening and closing ceremonies are held. Beijing’s RM1.3bil National Stadium, nicknamed Bird’s Nest, features dramatic steel lattices criss-crossing each other haphazardly like, well, a bird’s nest!
Designed by the avant garde Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei, together with architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Switzerland, Bird’s Nest encompasses “Chinese philosophy and the Chinese idea of good timing, geographical convenience and harmonious human relations”.
The grey steel lattices weigh 42,000 tons, are covered with 40,000 sq m of transparent membrane of ETFE foil, and boasts 204,100 sq m of space. It will accommodate 100,000 lucky ticket holders respectively for the opening and closing nights of the game.
After the torch is passed to London, Bird’s Nest will revert to being the 80,000-seater stadium it was conceived to be.
The Water Cube
The neighbouring Olympic Swimming Centre or National Aquatics Centre is futuristically shaped like a cube of compressed air bubbles and dubbed Water Cube.
This semi-transparent, squarish building has irregular, honeycombed forms resembling bubbles all over its surface. The authorities have declared that, “in Chinese culture, water is an important natural element. It creates a calming atmosphere and inspires happiness”.
Lights embedded in the bubble surface of the Water Cube make it stand out at night. - AP No reference to money-making is mentioned but Chinese gold medalists at this game are sure to find themselves awash in riches. Interestingly, the roundish National Stadium and the squarish Olympic Swimming Centre are metaphorically linked to become the square in the circle symbolising the union of heaven and earth!
The 50,000 sq m Water Cube holds five swimming pools, seats 17,000 and costs RM320mil to build. After the games, it will be made a recreational water park.
Z Criss-Cross
Ten architecture firms were shortlisted in the bidding for the China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters, with the contract eventually going to Koolhaas’ Metropolitan Architecture of Netherlands.
Designer Rem Koolhaas crowed, “This is the architecture China needs tomorrow, and I bring it to you today!”
With its highest point at 230m, the CCTV HQ is the new landmark in the heart of the Central Business District in eastern Beijing. The nearly RM2bil super structure has 550,000 sq m of space, with its twin towers sloping and meeting each other, and its bridges giving the impression of a continuous interlocking tube.
As the bridges are almost as high as the towers are wide, Koolhaas has dubbed his creation a “non-skyscraper” due to its gravity-defying design. This lop-sided colossus will broadcast the Summer Olympics across the world.
The Egg
The National Grand Theatre has been called “a crystal drop of water”, “egg shell” and “boiled egg”, and this is no surprise. From a distance, it certainly looks like a silvery egg floating on green waters.
Those who fail to get tickets for the games can console themselves with a glamorous night out here, and there are a few programmes being lined up for the duration of the Olympics.
The National Grand Theatre a. k. a. The Egg. - REUTERS Designed by French architect Paul Andrew, this epic titanium, metal and glass building changes colour at night, glowing so eerily that some have declared it must be a dragon’s egg.
Its semi-transparent, golden-netted glass walls allow concertgoers to look up at the sky through the dome.
This performing arts palace has 118,900 sq m of space, with halls for every musical genre performance, whether opera, ballet, recital, song, drama, dance, art exhibition or Peking Opera.
There is parking for 1,000 cars and, as tickets are meant for everyone, space for 1,400 bicycles. The Opera Hall seats 2,500 while the Music Hall accommodates 2,100.
The Dragon
Perhaps the biggest architectural showpiece of them all is Beijing’s new airport. It has taken nearly four years and RM14bil to create the world’s largest terminal airport terminal complex at nearly a million sq m (986,000 to be precise) of space.
Opened on Feb 29, in the leap year of 2008, The Dragon – as it is dubbed – was designed very much with the auspicious mythical creature in mind.
Its Terminal 3 looks like a stylised dragon. Architect Norman Foster must have been told to create a dragon, king of the air and lord of the waters, to define T3. Its very shape, from the curve of the complex, to the scaly roof and the colours of the terminal, are based on the celestial creature’s attributes.
The high speed rail terminal at the new Terminal 3 building at Beijing Airport. - AP You can even make out the pearl in the dragon’s mouth, dragon’s body, spine, scales and even dragon’s beard!
The pearl in the dragon’s mouth is the circular-shaped Ground Transportation Centre, which includes a carpark for 7,000 vehicles. The dragon’s body contains the International Departure and Arrival Halls, which are of stunning proportions.
And just as a dragon’s body curves sinuously, so too does the arched roof of T3, which mimics the dragon’s spine. The steel in 12 different colours forms a solid grid, creating the sleek image of a dragon about to take flight!
Meanwhile, 155 large triangular skylights allow natural light in, and, more importantly, resemble the undulating scales of a dragon. The dragon’s beard is the linkages emanating from the mouth, including light railway, roads and three highways.
The Beijing Olympics is set to be a boisterous affair and even young couples are reportedly planning to add to the din – it appears Chinese couples are determined to tie the knot on 08/08/08 at 08.08pm too!
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