Published : 2025-06-28
On June 28, 2008, China's National Stadium in Beijing, or the Bird's Nest, was completed.
The National Stadium is the main venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, located within the Beijing Olympic Park.
It covers a construction area of 258,000 square metres and occupies 20.4 hectares, hosting the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the track and field and soccer finals of the Olympic Games.
It is called the "Bird's Nest" because the National Stadium does not employ a traditional straight-line steel structure. Instead, it adopts a saddle-shaped, large-span, cross-rotating arrangement of portal steel trusses.
This design approach gives the main spatial structure a novel form, seamlessly integrating architecture and engineering.
It is unique, aesthetically striking, and powerfully impressive, delivering a strong visual impact. It fully embodies the advanced design philosophy where the structure itself becomes the exterior form.
The National Stadium has won numerous awards, including being listed by the British Times in 2007 as one of the 10 largest and most important construction projects underway in the world.
In 2008, it was also named by the American Time magazine as one of the world's 100 most influential designs, winning the title of the most influential design in the architecture category.
