Following in the footsteps of the Greeks, the Beijing National Stadium is a wonder of architectural showmanship.

1. The Astonishing Marvel That
is the Bird’s Nest Stadium
Kenny Slaught

2. Long before we had commonplace architectural wonders like museums or opera houses,
which are the focus for most of today's architectural innovation, we had stadiums. Unlike
comparable structures in Egypt and South America, ancient Greece's first stadiums were
designed for the entertainment of the public rather than to glorify leaders or gods. These
massive structures, which were built to accommodate the length of a "stadion," or 600 feet,
were not only among the first architectural wonders, but they were also some of the first
projects designed specifically to serve as public spaces.
Given that these first stadiums were intended, in part, to accommodate the original Olympic
Games, it is little wonder that many of our most astounding stadiums today were created for
the modern Olympics. These events have provided hosting nations with the opportunity to
flaunt their achievements on the world stage, often by constructing architectural marvels.

3. For example, Adolf Hitler's Nazi government hired Werner March to design a stadium worthy
of Leni Riefenstahl's propaganda films for the 1936 Olympics. Barcelona similarly took
advantage of the 1992 games in order to promote itself, with architects ranging from Arata
Isozaki to Frank Gehry participating in projects across the city.
The most recent notable addition to the architectural history of the Olympics, however, came
in 2008, with the debut of the Beijing National Stadium. Popularly known as the Bird's Nest
due to its distinctive pattern of support beams, the Beijing National Stadium serves as an
emblem of both stunning Olympian architectural feats and the problems host countries face in
the aftermath of the games.

4. The Bird’s Nest Takes Shape
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) selects host cities for the games many years in advance, and in
2001, it announced that Beijing would host the 2008 Summer Games. Even well-developed host counries
have had difficulty meeting the needs of the IOC, and Beijing was considered particularly underdeveloped
with respect to the infrastructure necessary to host the games. As a result, China devoted considerable
resources to the task, and for its centerpiece, its Olympic stadium, it held an open competition for a design.
The winners, Herzog & de Meuron of Switzerland and Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, designed a structure that
would meet the needs of Beijing, which wanted a truly unique stadium that could seat 100,000 spectators,
serve multiple functions, and have zero environmental impact.
The result, the Beijing National Stadium, sought to bring ancient Chinese artistic conventions to the modern
world through its design wrought in steel and glass. Herzog & de Meuron based the stadium on Chinese
artwork depicting ships wrapped in graceful weaves, but the public immediately associated the design with
a bird's nest, which gave the stadium its nickname. A few years later, construction began.

5. A record-breaking 110,000 tons of steel were
used to create the main stadium and its facade.
The interior stadium, which ultimately included
92,000 seats for the games, 12,000 of which
were removed afterward, featured an innovative
Ethylene Tetra Fluoro Ethylene (ETFE) membrane
roof over the spectators. Perhaps the project’s
most innovative engineering feat is its
earthquake protection feature—the façade’s steel
frame was designed to separate from the
concrete stadium, which itself was sectioned into
sixths in order to allow each portion to move
independently.

6. The Games and Their Aftermath
The 2008 Summer Olympics began with a bang. The opening ceremony was widely regarded as
spectacular, and the Bird's Nest simultaneously served as its main stage and its star attraction. Even seven
years later, the Beijing National Stadium remains an architectural icon, widely considered a masterpiece of
design and artistry. However, it also serves as a poignant reminder of the complex interplay between
politics and art.
For years, Western news outlets have reported on how the Bird's Nest is now empty. Despite the fact that
the stadium requires some $11 million annually for maintenance, few events take place there. On most days,
it's a sleepy tourist attraction, though the Chinese government has tried everything in its power to make it
relevant again, from turning the stadium into a temporary winter sports park to giving the space over to
performance artists. While officials have pointed out that the stadium has hosted more than 300 events
since the 2008 games, independent reports continue to suggest that the space has become more
monument than venue.

7. Experts have gone so far as to suggest that
the Bird's Nest may be the last stadium of its
kind. Tokyo, in preparations for its 2020
games, has already scrapped designs by
renowned architect Zaha Hadid for its own
Olympic stadium, for example, in order to
avoid saddling the city with an expensive but
useless venue. However, China may have
found a clever way to get more use out of its
stadium: host another Olympics. In July of
2015, the IOC named Beijing the host of the
2022 Winter Games, and the city has
announced that the Bird's Nest will once
again serve as the event’s main stage.