Tomorrow night, the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
It will be held at the National Stadium.
This Winter Olympics is also the first time in the history of the Chinese national team
Qualified for the Alpine Skiing Competition at the Winter Olympics,
Let the audience gather expectations.
2022 Winter Olympics Yanqing Division Photo | Sun Haiting
Source: Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee
Yanqing Division, one of the three major competition areas of the Winter Olympic Games,
It is known as the "most beautiful competition area",
Located in the northwest of Beijing, Xiaohaituo Mountain,
There are two competition venues.
National Bobsleigh Centre,
Like a dragon lying on a ridge,
After the game, the audience can walk on the roof of the venue,
See the mountain views along the veranda;
National Alpine Ski Centre,
Like a flying swallow standing on the top of the mountain, the snow road extends all the way,
Spectators ride the cable car deep into the mountains, and the scenery is constantly changing.
Ski training track debugging
Athletes train at bobsleigh venues
The roof walkway of the bobsleigh center allows the audience to visit the photo | Zhang Yuting
Both venues are the first time the mainland has designed and built itself.
How is such a world-class sports building designed, and what are the difficulties?
What are the highlights of the audience tour?
Before the closed-loop operation of the Winter Olympic venues,
A team followed Li Xinggang, the chief designer of Yanqing Division
Enter the Yanqing competition area and visit the Winter Olympic venues.
Edited by Ye Li, Editor-in-charge chen Ziwen
Winter Olympics Yanqing Area Photography | Sun Haiting
Driving all the way to the northwest from downtown Beijing, about 1.5 hours, passing through Badaling, we arrived at Xiaohaituo Mountain in Yanqing District, the location of Yanqing Division, one of the three major competition areas of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.
As far as the eye can see, the mountains are surrounded by a circle, dense forests are layered, and the rocks are rugged. Looking up the hill, several snow trails in the distance spread all the way down from the top of the mountain to the edge of the river valley.
The stadium building, scattered on the ridge, hidden in the mountains and forests, is very harmonious with nature, and is known as the "most beautiful competition area".
Alpine Ski Center Competitive Ski Trail Source: Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee
National Bobsleigh Centre
Yanqing Winter Olympic Village Photography | Yang Yaojun
In addition to a Winter Olympic village that can accommodate more than 1,400 people, Yanqing has two competition venues: the National Alpine Ski Center and the National Bobsleigh Center. It will undertake alpine skiing, snowmobiling and bobsleigh events at the Winter Olympic Games and alpine skiing at the Winter Paralympic Games, and will produce 21 Winter Olympic gold medals and 30 Winter Paralympic gold medals.
Alpine skiing has attracted considerable global attention, and for the first time, the Chinese national team has successfully "unlocked" the qualification for the entire alpine skiing event of the Winter Olympic Games. The national bobsleigh team was established under the opportunity of Beijing's successful bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2015, and in just 6 years, it has begun to emerge.
Although these two Winter Olympics events are still relatively small in the mainland, they have made the audience look forward to it.
Li Xinggang gave an exclusive interview
The design and construction requirements of the competition venues of these two projects are very high, and it is also the first time that China has built a competition venue that meets the requirements of the Winter Olympics.
The design is led by the China Academy of Architectural Design and Research, with the participation of 4 institutions, forming a design consortium. Li Xinggang, the chief architect of the research institute, is the chief designer of the Yanqing area of the Winter Olympics.
Li Xinggang told us that from the planning and design to the completion of the venue and supporting facilities at the end of October 2021, it took more than 4 years. The design team added up to three or four hundred people.
Standing in the Winter Olympic Village to see the Bobsleigh Center Photo | Sun Haiting
Snowmobile bobsleigh center
Designing in beautiful mountain forests, the relationship between architecture and natural ecology has been valued from the beginning, with the theme of "Mountain Forest Venues, Ecological Winter Olympics", showing China's "cultural values of artificial and natural integration and symbiosis".
At the same time, the venue building itself is low-key, and there is not much to consider creating a "landmark building", the core is still to create a "space for people".
"Let the athletes get the best sports experience, stimulate the state of movement, and let the audience achieve the best appreciation experience." Maximizing the attention to people is the most important goal of venue design. ”
When we stood in the Winter Olympic Village and looked across the river valley, the entire venue of the National Bobsleigh Center snaked up the hill, and the nickname "Snow Dragon" was worthy of its name.
Bobsleigh Center Track Photo | Yao Yuan
Bobsleigh Center Track Photo | Zhang Yuting
Bobsleigh, known as "Formula 1 in Ice and Snow Sports", athletes drive snowmobiles and sleds, and slide at high speeds on the completed ice-making track, with a maximum speed of 135 km / h.
Because the conditions of the tracks around the world are different, the shape and experience of the bobsleigh track are also different.
"It's difficult and challenging, it's fun, and I enjoy the process of gliding." In October and November 2021, two international events were held here, and world-class athletes praised them after the games.
The National Bobsleigh Center is the first in China and the third in Asia, and the highest level of bobsleigh tracks that meet the standards of the Winter Olympics, which is completely designed and built by the mainland independently, without any previous experience.
The venue is located on a narrow ridge with a length of 1975m, a drop of 121 meters and 16 curves. One of the most special, called the "380-degree Slalom", is a way for athletes to turn and descend as they glide.
How do you use the mountain to build a continuous curve?
The architect told us that during the design process, the team developed independently and introduced new technological innovations, "the integration of building information models of venues and venues".
Usually, building information modeling (BIM) considers only the main body of the building, but this time, the mountain and the building are taken into account as the model body together. Finally, by calculating the simulated stadium shape, excavation was minimized and the natural topography of the mountain was maintained.
Spiral bend north look at the departure area, end area Photo | Zhang Yuting
Steel frame snowmobile on a spiral bend track Photo | Sun Haiting
After finding out the geometry of the track, the team used shotcrete to form the track, and each section was a complex three-dimensional surface of space.
When it came time for training and racing, a 50mm thick ice surface was poured on the inside of the track.
In October 2020, the ice making of the track was completed and the national team entered the training.
Artificial Terrain Climate Protection System Real Scene Photo | Zhang Yuting
Because of the limited conditions, the venue site is located on the south slope, but the international bobsleigh single organization has requirements, and the track needs to avoid sunlight throughout the course, so as to avoid uneven ice surface and affect the sliding.
The design team developed a "artificial terrain climate protection system" that uses natural terrain, artificial terrain, and awnings, windshields, and sun blinds to effectively protect the ice surface of the track and minimize energy consumption.
Inside the system, the awning becomes an important structural element, covering the track and extending along the track.
Viewed from the hill, the track at the National Bobsleigh Center is hidden under the roof.
Li Xinggang on the roof walkway of the bobsleigh center
The roof walkway of the bobsleigh venue is also a very clever design.
The trail becomes a connecting channel for spectators and staff as they cross the track, walking onto the artificial roof to watch the race from several special angles, while the trail offers a wide view and views of the surrounding mountains.
Especially after the game, in the summer, the venue is not operational, and the trail can become a walkway for public sightseeing. Climb all the way down the hill to the middle of the mountain.
Roof walkway, the vista is the second departure area Photography | Sun Haiting
Along the way, the roof uses a lot of wooden shingles, which match the mountain forest environment, and after the wind and the sun, they will gradually fade and have traces of time.
A huge sports stadium becomes a long veranda in the mountains.
National Alpine Ski Center Summit Departure Area Photo | Li Xinggang
Alpine skiing, known as the "crown jewel" of the Winter Olympics, is one of the most eye-catching Winter Olympic sports.
The alpine ski center is also the first construction in China. The gap is large, the speed is fast, the competitiveness of the sport is very strong, and the safety requirements are also very high.
One of the characteristics of the Alpine Ski Track in Yanqing District is that the pistes are in a typical alpine and deep canyon environment, both on the ridge and in the valley, and there are many turns. The landscape changes along the way are very rich, including mountain rocks, forest landscapes, and valley landscapes.
National Alpine Ski Center Summit Departure Area Photo | Mengyang
At the top of Mt. Kokaitou, it is the summit departure area for alpine skiing and the terminus of the ropeway up the mountain.
Nicknamed "Snow Flying Swallow", the building is not towering on the top of the mountain like many alpine ski buildings abroad or the peak lift stations of ski resorts, but is "lying" low-key below the top of the mountain. The roof of the building is almost flush with the top of the mountain.
Such design considerations, on the one hand, maximize shelter from the wind and keep warm.
More importantly, from the perspective of cultural imagery, this artificial building does not "override" nature. Architect Li Xinggang told us, "In our tradition, this is a way that everyone agrees with, you look at ancient Chinese landscape paintings, or go to Huangshan, you rarely see pavilions, appearing on the highest peak." ”
Alpine Ski Center Athletic Finish Area Source: CCTV
Along the slopes, there is a snowmaking system that works continuously.
There is also a piste trail that leads directly down the mountain, and after the skiers finish the race, they can slide all the way to the Winter Olympic Village without waiting for the cable car.
Aerial view of Yanqing Winter Olympic Village
On the east side of the river valley is the Yanqing Winter Olympic Village, which can accommodate about 1,430 athletes and entourage from all over the world.
The Winter Olympic Village is designed in a mountainous pattern, not a building rising from the ground, but "reducing it to pieces".
Four or five buildings, enclosing the courtyard, constitute a residential group, a total of 6 groups. Each group of inhabitants, at a different height, falls down the mountain, forming the image of a village and a mountain dwelling.
Li Xinggang in the Winter Olympic Village Ruins Park
During an early site survey, the design team accidentally discovered the remains of a small mountain village. Probably abandoned in the 1930s and 1940s, it is very precious.
So the design team carefully preserved it, and after doing the landscape design treatment, it turned it into a heritage park, as a public space open to athletes around the world.
Yanqing Winter Olympic Village Photography | Zhang Siteng
The design of the Winter Olympic Village also borrows the layout of Xidazhuangke Village in Yanqing District, which is not far from the venue area.
"So there are three mountain villages in Yanqing." Li Xinggang said, "The ruins represent the mountain village of the past, the xidazhuangke village next to it is a modern mountain village, and the winter Olympic village is a mountain village facing the future." ”
After the Olympic Games, Yanqing Winter Olympic Village will be transformed into two leisure hotels, providing about 600 beds.
Yanqing Winter Olympic Village, the big tree in the foreground is reserved for the original site Photo | Jiang Wenbo
A large number of native trees on the site have been preserved.
Before the design began, the trees were sorted, numbered, and positioned, and the architectural design avoided these native trees as much as possible. Some of them were really unavoidable, and the design team temporarily transplanted them to other sites, and then transplanted them back after the construction was completed.
"Walking into the Winter Olympic Village, you will feel that it has a history, and the mountains and forests and venues cover each other."
Bobsleigh Center Venue Departure Area Photo | Sun Haiting
A large amount of rubble produced during the construction, made into a stone cage wall, became the outer parapet of the building, appearing both on the building of the Winter Olympic Village, as well as on the façade of the bobsleigh center hall and the building in the departure area.
In the process of taking the cable car up the mountain, along the way, you will pass through the supporting facilities of the alpine ski resort, which are built on a series of alpine overhead platforms, rather than built on artificially filled mountains, which is the minimum "weak intervention" in the mountain terrain and protects the ecological environment of the mountain.
Exterior view of the distribution square and the end of the race Photo by Sun Haiting, |
Halfway up the hill broadcast area platform
And the platform is also reversible. The components are prefabricated in the factory, and then transported to the site for assembly, as needed, they can be disassembled after the game to restore the original environment.
This system also draws on the construction method of traditional mountain houses in southwest China. "Dry-type" architecture, that is, the use of wooden pillars on the hillside "rooting", erecting wooden platforms, and then forming rooms, common in Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan and other areas.
The design team has a description of the research and design work - "let sports and ecology coexist".
"I look forward to the official holding of the 2022 Winter Olympics to show the world our Cultural Values of Humanity and Nature."
Some of the pictures are provided by China Architectural Design and Research Institute Co., Ltd