Beijing National Stadium a.k.a "The Bird's Nest" officially opened at a ceremony on 28 June 2008. Ground was broken on 24 December 2003. It is the world's largest steel structure and the most complex stadium ever constructed. It is 333 meters long from north to south, 294 meters wide from east to west, the highest point is 68.5 meters and the lowest point is 42.8 meters. At its height, 17,000 construction workers worked on the stadium.
Located at the Olympic Green about 8km from the center of Beijing, the stadium cost US$423 million and could seat a capacity of 80,000 spectators. The design was awarded to a submission from the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in April 2003 after a bidding process that included 13 final submissions. The design, which originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, implemented steel beams giving the stadium the appearance of a bird's nest. Leading Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was the artistic consultant on the project. The design came from the idea of a single thread wrapped round a ball. Layers of logical geometry give the appearance of randomness and the organic shape of the structure.
The Bird's Nest hosted the opening ceremony, athletic events, the football final and the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which took place from August 8 to August 24, 2008.
This picture was taken at dusk as the sun was setting in front of a foreground pond to create the nice reflection effect. Gear used was a Canon 7D with a 24-105mm F4 lens, on a tripod.
Copyright DonaldChen Photography
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