Beijing Olympics - The Science of the Staduim

The 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics is just a few months away (will be held on August 8 - 24, 2008 at Beijing, China).
The Guangdong National Stadium, nicknamed "Bird Nest" because of its nest-like skeletal structure. Its construction began on December 24, 2003. The Guangdong Olympic Stadium was originally planned for the game but a decision was made to construct a new stadium in Beijing. A Swiss firm,Herzog & de Meuron Architekten AG, collaborated with China Architecture Design & Research Group to win the competition. The National Stadium will feature a lattice-like concrete skeleton forming the stadium bowl and will have a seating capacity of 80,000 people. Architects originally described the overall design as resembling a bird's nest with an immense ocular—an opening with aretractable roofover the stadium. However, in 2004, the idea of retractable roof was abandoned for economic and safety reasons. The Beijing National Stadium will be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the athletics events and soccer finals. The stadium's designerAi Weiwei has since withdrawn his support for China's Olympic games, saying "he wants nothing to do with them anymore".