The Beijing National Stadium also known as “Birds Nest” was designed for use in the 2008 olympics. This stadium has a 91,000 seat capacity and was designed by architects Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Stefan Marbach, and chief architect Li Xinggang. This team of architects wanted to incorporate Chinese culture and studied Chinese ceramics. After studying the art, they decided to use the “nest scheme”. The stadium consists two structures standing 50 feet apart. The outer shell is made up of steel beams and the inner portion is a red concrete seating bowl. This structure had to fit the requirements of the bidding process and had to hide the steel supports for the retractable roof. To do so, the team developed “random-looking additional steel” to blend the supports into the rest of the stadium, but later the retractable roof was removed. This stadium costs over $290 million to construct and still houses many sports and entertainment events

This stadium has had a positive effect on me as it gives me a sense of nostalgia to when times were simple and easy. I remember watching the 2008 olympics at home with my family and watching Michael Phelps win 8 gold medals. This was also my first time seeing this stadium for the first time. I was amazed at how complex this structure looked and how advanced technology had become. I wondered how the building stood on its own as its design was very complex and crazy. The Beijing National Stadium (Bird’s Nest) will always have a special place in my heart and memory.