Beijing, 18 Feb (Xinhua) -- In Zhangjiakou, Hebei Province, on the banks of Prince City, between the mountains, the National Ski Jumping Center "Xue Ruyi" has witnessed the limits of human beings; in a building near Tsinghua University, a miniature version of "Xue Ruyi" stands next to an easel, and the freehand brushstrokes record the designer's initial inspiration to the final formation of "Xue Ruyi".
"Snow Ruyi" is named because of its appearance resembling the auspicious ornament "Ruyi", which is the first ski jumping venue in mainland China that meets international standards, and undertakes ski jumping and Nordic biathlon competitions at the Beijing Winter Olympics. There are two jumping platforms in the middle of "Snow Ruyi", the drop is between 90 meters and 140 meters, and the athletes need to bear great physical and psychological tests by skidding, jumping, flying, and finally landing.
On February 13, the picture shows the staff sorting out the track in the "Snow Ruyi" arena of the National Ski Jumping Center. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Jiang Kehong
According to Zhang Li, chief planner of Zhangjiakou and dean of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, in an interview with Xinhua News Agency a few days ago, most of the venues in the world that undertook the Winter Olympic ski jumping project were in a state of unsustainable use after the game, and for the team, in addition to designing event venues that meet international standards, it is also necessary to integrate Chinese cultural elements into them, and achieve the goal of minimal natural footprint and sustainable use after the game.
The drops and shapes of the valley where "Snow Ruyi" is located are highly compatible with the needs of the competition, and it is considered a "natural" ski jumping field. However, it has become the largest and most difficult competition venue in the construction of the Venue Group of the Zhangjiakou Winter Olympics in the Zhangjiakou Area of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
The construction team got a track curve that had been carefully calculated by experts and began to think about this "propositional composition": What Kind of Chinese Cultural Elements best fit this curve? The armrests of the circle chair, the clouds, the sheath of the sword, the hook of the jade pendant..." There are about 100 of them. Zhang Li said that "Ruyi" is an image that all people familiar with Chinese culture can identify with, so the team began to think about how to achieve the principle of minimum natural footprint and sustainable use on the basis of this image.
Rather than having Snow Ruyi "lie in the valley" effortlessly, the design team ultimately chose to laboriously "land on all fours" — to lift as many artificial facilities off the ground as possible. "The contact area between the limbs landing on the ground and the ground is certainly smaller than lying down, which reduces the damage to the mountain surface, and the main thing is that the small animals can maintain their migration without interruption." Zhang Li said.
The most difficult part is the ring design of the "Ruyi Handle Head" - this "air club" that can accommodate nearly 1,000 people to watch, sightsee and hold various events weighs more than 3,000 tons, which consumes the most efforts of the design team. "Doing a big building in the jumping departure area has never been done before."
The load-bearing issue is the most complex. In the hundreds of "Snow Ruyi" sketches conceived by Zhang Li, it can be seen that the top was originally a solid round cake, rather than the light ring structure it is today, which is a countless bursts of inspiration and self-denial. "This is not a simple problem of styling needs, with this ring, people's future activities and psychological feelings in this ring space will become rich." Zhang Li said.
On February 2, Zhang Li, chief planner of the Zhangjiakou Division, the torchbearer, was in the torch relay. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Xin
In order to serve more people, the construction team built steps on both sides of the track to climb the top for visitors to visit on foot. In addition, Zhang Li and others also broke the convention of building a "backhill slope" at the bottom of the track to make athletes slow down faster, and built a standard football field of the smallest size at the bottom, which can also be used to hold activities for nearly 10,000 people in the future.
"'Snow Ruyi' is full of thoughts." Zhang Li said. For example, the asymmetrical design of the two tracks is for windproof considerations, and the visual does not affect the appearance; the athlete has 0.3 seconds to look around to understand the venue information before the skiing, and at this moment, you can see the ruins of the ancient Great Wall, and there may be subtle changes in the psychology...
In recent years, Zhang Li has frequently traveled between Beijing and Zhangjiakou and witnessed the changes in Zhangjiakou. "Material changes are one thing, but all changes are ultimately manifested by people." Zhang Li said, "Especially looking at the people in Zhangjiakou, the people who work in the snow field, from their eyes, the confidence of talking to the expectations of future life, they can see a particularly obvious improvement, which is self-evident." ”
Source: Xinhua News Agency