From a piece of ice, a drop of ink, a snowflake, to a creative ignition ceremony, the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics will present a simple, romantic, childlike and aesthetic opening ceremony to a global audience. Under the five rings of the Olympic Games, the ice and snow wisdom of the Chinese has condensed into a huge force, highlighting China's cultural self-confidence and the aesthetics of the times. What is Chinese aesthetics, what is the feeling of Chinese, and what kind of design is the most powerful? With the ingenuity of design and the wisdom of science and technology, the designers have shown the world China's current values, sportsmanship, cultural vitality and technological achievements. It is these wonderful and beautiful designs that together constitute the visual feast of this highly anticipated international sports event and lead the new era of Olympic culture.
Convey Chinese feelings with unique aesthetics
▲ Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics main torch Xinhua News Agency reporter Cao Can photo
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the story of a snowflake runs through the whole process and moves the world. During the athletes' entrance session, the guides held snowflake guide cards to lead the athletes to take turns. Each snowflake is cleverly combined with a Chinese knot pattern, and the line shape shows a simple, ethereal and romantic ice and snow aesthetic. As the athletes entered the stadium, the guides held snowflake guide cards and gathered around the field, and the small snowflakes of all the delegations gathered together to form a large snowflake, echoing the five rings of ice and snow, and merging with the flags of each delegation, interpreting the vision of the world family "together to the future".
In order to integrate Chinese understanding of "harmony and difference, beauty and commonality" into the design of snowflakes, the design team has gone through nearly 3 years and repeatedly revised and polished more than 300 drafts, only for this unique snowflake. Speaking of this creation, designer Song Chen said that "contemporary expression of traditional spirit" is the core. From the Western proverb "There are no two snowflakes exactly the same in the world" to the Oriental poet Li Bai's "Yanshan snowflakes are as big as a seat", the creativity of the fusion of Eastern and Western cultures has presented an unparalleled ice and snow event for the world audience.
Venue design has always been a major attraction of the Olympic Games, and the Winter Olympics are no exception. The design of the venues and venues of the Beijing Winter Olympics has listed the transmission of Chinese culture as one of the main issues from the beginning. "Snow Ruyi", "Snow Flying", "Ice Ribbon", "Ice Cube", "Snow Dragon"... These Chinese-style names vividly describe the architectural beauty of the Winter Olympic venues, and you can feel the poetry from the names alone.
▲ National Ski Jumping Center "Snow Ruyi"
The design of the National Ski Jumping Center in the Zhangjiakou division of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is inspired by the traditional Chinese mascot "Ruyi". "The S-shaped curve of the track is very visually recognizable, so we set out to look for a connection between it and Chinese cultural symbols. From the armrest of the chair, the details of the Bogu frame, to the pattern of the clouds, the sheath of the sword, etc., in the end, we found that the Chinese cultural symbol that best fits the S-shaped track is 'Ruyi'. 'Ruyi' is a traditional Chinese auspicious object that resembles Ganoderma lucidum in appearance and symbolizes good wishes. Zhang Li, dean of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, chief planner of the Zhangjiakou Competition Area of the Beijing Winter Olympics and chief designer of the Shougang Ski Jump, introduced that due to the influence of steep mountains and low temperatures, the National Ski Jumping Center has become the most technically difficult competition venue in the main area of Zhangjiakou. For example, the position of the peak to constitute the "Ruyi" handle head can not be too small, but too large load-bearing and problematic, the design team after repeated communication, and finally the position of the peak is designed as a hollow circle, the load-bearing problem is solved. As a result, Snow Ruyi became the first ski jumping resort in the world to have a large cantilevered building in the top departure area.
▲ Shougang Ski Jumping Platform "Snow Flying"
Different from the "Snow Ruyi" built on the natural mountain, the design of the Shougang Ski Jump is more from the attention to the city, and the inspiration comes from the coincidence of the profile curve of the jumping competition and the image of dunhuang's "Flying Sky", so the Shougang Ski Jump is also known as "Snow Flying". The English name of the sport is "Big Air", which has the meaning of jumping and flying into the air, and the athletes jump from the auxiliary ski to the take-off, rolling, landing, to maximize the jump into the air. Therefore, the flying streamer in the Dunhuang mural, a very well-known world cultural heritage in China, has become the best carrier to express the dynamic curve of this sport, and the architectural shape constructed by the streamer curve is very beautiful and smooth, conveying the Chinese romance. Zhang Li said: "In order to not jump out of the big platform in the overall gray industrial background of Shougang Park, the overall height of the jump platform does not exceed the cooling tower next to it, and the jump platform cannot be allowed to go too far into the water, so as to encroach on the lake area as little as possible." In this way, the 'Flying Sky' streamer looks agile and ethereal against the reflection of Qunming Lake, which complements the old industrial park of Shougang Park. The Shougang Ski Jump will permanently document how the Olympics were integrated into urban renewal. ”
This symbolic design concept runs through almost every venue of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Shaped like an "ice ribbon", the National Speed Skating Hall is inspired by the combination of ice and speed, and the shape of the 22 ribbons that hovers is like the trajectory left by the ice knife when the athlete slides in at high speed. The "Snow Dragon" National Bobsleigh Center, the track is composed of 16 curves with different inclinations and curves, including the very rare 360 degree slalom, like a dragon soaring on a ridge, so it is figuratively called "Snow Dragon".
▲ Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics China Short Track Speed Skating Team Helmet Pattern Design "Jiaoruo Youlong"
As an important part of the overall vision of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the Winter Olympic costumes also tell China and dialogue with the world in a silent place. The uniforms and equipment known as "mobile landscapes" at the Winter Olympics are inspired by traditional Chinese landscape paintings and the snowy mountains, the core graphic of the Winter Olympics that shows the traditional Chinese idea of "Taoism and Nature, And unity of Heaven and Man". The overall design has the charm of Chinese ink painting, the lines are thick and thin, the layers are far and near virtual, and the traditional aesthetics and ice and snow sports are cross-border integration. In terms of color selection, the use of Xiaguang red, Great Wall gray, Tianji blue, Ruixue white, are born from the traditional Chinese mineral color. In addition to the cultural connotation, lightness and warmth are the functional necessities of the Winter Olympic uniforms. The application of new materials, new processes and new technologies has improved the actual efficacy of uniforms.
The Olympic award ceremony was the most glorious highlight of the event and the scene with the most concentrated broadcast footage. The Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Snow Awards Dress "Ruixue Xiangyun" was designed by members of the Central Academy of Fine Arts team members Chen Xi, Chen Yaping, Zhu Yiran and He Yang. According to reports, the design of "Ruixue Xiangyun" integrates the thick oriental cultural heritage with the international modern style, and the design inspiration comes from the traditional Chinese deep coat with the collar right side, the top and the bottom are connected, and the form of the placket, which integrates the characteristics of modern clothing, which not only reflects the traditional culture but also conforms to the trend of the times. The design takes the two traditional Chinese auspicious symbols of "Ruixue" and "Xiangyun" as the theme, and extracts the mountain shape and dynamic line elements in the core graphics of the Winter Olympic Games, and shows the technique of "golden landscape" in traditional Chinese painting in the form of hand embroidery, reflecting the speed and passion of ice and snow sports, and showing the Chinese charm with modern and simple techniques. The colors are selected from the color system of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, xiaguang red and tianji blue, combined with the "auspicious cloud" elements of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, highlighting the cultural heritage of Beijing as the "city of the two Olympic Games".
Two other ceremonial costumes were also well received. Inspired by the famous Chinese painting "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains", "Hongyun Landscape" uses the landscape expression techniques in Chinese paintings to combine traditional Chinese landscape images with the mountain shadows in the core graphics of the Winter Olympics, so that the classical and modern blend, and the blue and white landscapes leap into the clothes; the design inspiration of "Tang Hua Fei Xue" is derived from the traditional Chinese Tang Dynasty fabrics, refining and simplifying the Baoxiang pattern and snowflake pattern, combined with the light pattern in the core graphics of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which is rich in Han and Tang dynasty afterglow and contains the spirit of the times.
▲ Ice pier at the ceremony to award souvenirs of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics Xinhua News Agency reporter Xue Yubin photo
▲ Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Medal "One Heart"
In addition, we can find that traditional Chinese elements are also widely used in all corners of the Winter Olympic Games, from the "ice piers" and "snow rongrong" that have already appeared, to the "Hanyin" style of sports icons, from the concentric circles in the medals to the auspicious clouds on the torch, each design contains a deep "oriental beauty". The design team skillfully integrates traditional culture into the design, so that every audience can feel this Chinese romance and beauty, and feel the power of Chinese design.
The integration of art science makes the Winter Olympics simple and not simple
Adhering to the requirements of "simple, safe and wonderful", the Beijing Winter Olympics bring together a series of intelligent technologies, using the power of science and technology and innovative concepts, through more up-to-date and multi-dimensional expressions, so that the people of the world can understand Chinese culture and Chinese design language from a new perspective.
▲ Design of the torch platform in the three major competition areas of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
Poetic countdown design, crystal clear "ice and snow five rings", romantic and beautiful snowflake torch platform, dazzling digital light and shadow, creative environmental protection ignition... The opening ceremony, full of ice and snow elements, makes full use of the power of modern digital technology, and the addition of scientific and technological sense makes the visual dimension more abundant.
The unprecedented ignition ceremony has already created history, and this bold innovation success has left a strong mark in the history of the Olympic Games, as the general director Zhang Yimou said: "The way of ignition and even the way of the torch stand is one of our boldest designs and changes, which has not yet appeared in the history of the Olympic Games in a hundred years." ”
Formed by a combination of Chinese knots and olive branches, snowflake terrace highlights the Olympic motto while incorporating elements of traditional Chinese culture. Use program-controlled pixels in a limited number of pixels to form a geometrically consistent dynamic effect that matches the physical lamp bead points. This is the first time in the history of the Olympic Games that a micro-fire torch built with green environmental protection as the core principle is presented. It creatively combines a handheld torch with a torch stand to minimize carbon emissions. This kind of Chinese-style classic blank space of "seeing the big with the small" and "doing nothing and doing nothing" is practicing the purpose of low-carbon emission reduction with a very oriental philosophical aesthetic.
In the opening chapter of the opening ceremony "Ice and Snow Five Rings", a crystal clear "Ice Cube" slowly rises, the digital device realizes the five-sided naked-eye 3D effect of technological innovation, 24 lasers shoot at the ice cube, carving history on the huge ice cube, from the previous Winter Olympics to the Beijing Winter Olympics, in the glittering, the audience travels through time and space. Laser like a paintbrush to ink Winter Olympics moving animation depicted, in the process of creation, black bow Blackbow visual effects team will be three-dimensional animation into the laser machine needs of the point data, and to achieve rapid effect iteration, to meet the needs of creative updates, this is the digital technology in the traditional Chinese ink style deconstruction and reshaping.
Chen Yan, art director of the opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, said: "Winter has given us a very 'clean' opportunity, we have snow and transparent ice. Ice itself is a concept, this piece of 'ice' is composed of LED, LED itself is not high in technology, but if it is allowed to vividly portray the real ice that everyone feels and thinks, it is actually very difficult. In addition, it is a large area, reaching 30,000 square meters. The main broadcast control system design, all aspects contain technology, which was not possible in 2008, and now has 4G, 5G, 8K support, can be comprehensively displayed in the bird's nest. This is a typical fusion of technology and art, I think it is very mythical, there is a sense of magic pen Ma Liang, we just replaced the 'pen' in it with 'technology'. ”
Ever-changing light and shadow shows, immersive interactive projections full of cyberpunk style, immersive live broadcast platforms created by holographic media... The Shougang Competition Area of the Winter Olympic Games, from the majestic Chinese history to the Olympic ice and snow dream, has been presented in a panoramic and immersive manner under the blessing of science and technology. The team of professors from Tsinghua Academy of Fine Arts in Marseille perfectly combines the physical space and digital space of the industrial site, builds a multi-faceted digital twin model and intelligent management system based on the Internet of Things, and comprehensively creates a large-scale, low-power, and strong experience park. From public facilities that can adapt to changes in external conditions such as weather and changes in scene patterns, to low-energy, high-interaction night scene "light paradise", to future experience spaces and live broadcast experience centers based on 5G, Internet of Things, multi-modal interactive live broadcast systems and other technologies, the Winter Olympic culture and Shougang Industrial Site have achieved deep integration under the "magic pen". After the Winter Olympics, the public facilities of Shougang Park will be formed for sustainable operation and development, and it will become an immersive sports experience space and cultural tourism film and television production base open to the public, and continue to bloom the light of Winter Olympic culture.
The success of the Beijing Winter Olympics depends not only on the wonderful competition of sports skills, but also on the quality of the event. With the help of "5G + VR" technology, the appearance of "Interactive Multi-dimensional Viewing Experience Technology and System for Ice and Snow Projects" on the stage of this Winter Olympic Games has made the "Winter Olympics of Science and Technology" move from vision to reality. "In the past, the live broadcast of the game that everyone saw was composed of the pictures taken by the multi-channel camera by the director, and what the director cut, everyone could only see." Sheng Xiaojie, the person in charge of the special project, introduced that with this technology, as long as the audience holds a 5G mobile phone, they can be the "director" themselves, change the viewing position at any time, and easily experience the 180-degree free viewing angle. In addition to meeting the needs of spectators, "free perspective" technology is also crucial for referees to judge penalties and athlete training. Thanks to the full coverage of 5G signals in the event venues, the broadcast of this Winter Olympic Games also has a new model - cloud broadcasting.
It is understood that during the event, the robot will undertake a lot of epidemic prevention work. They have a clear division of labor, wisdom and speed, and can be called the most important "Winter Olympic volunteers". For example, the National Stadium has specially introduced a smart access management system, a set of intelligent security service robots connected to the background management system. As long as the ID card is scanned on this robot, the audience can complete all the procedures in one second, including identity registration, intelligent temperature measurement, health code, nucleic acid testing, vaccination and other seven steps. It is this set of intelligent access management system that not only ensures the safe passage of visitors, but also provides a strong guarantee for epidemic prevention and control.
Whether it is venue construction, event service, or spectator experience, equipment design, this Winter Olympics everywhere highlights the "scientific and technological background" of China's intelligent manufacturing. Innovation will not only decorate this world-renowned ice and snow event more wonderfully, but also lay a solid foundation for the future sharing of the achievements of the Winter Olympics and the promotion of the sustainable development of ice and snow sports.
The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics will allow the public not only to simply understand the culture itself, but also to participate in it to resonate and empathize, and to create a collective memory of people around the world. From showing "me" to showing "we", showing the common human emotion of "going to the future together". When the white snowflakes composed of the names of various countries rise quietly in the distant melody, in this instant, "you", "me" and "he" become "us".
February 20, 2022 China Culture Daily
Special reports were published on the 4th edition
"The Covenant of the Winter Olympics, Beauty in China"
Editor-in-charge: Chen Xiaoyue