Water Cube National Swimming Center Beijing
The so-called WATERCUBE associates water as a structural and thematical "leitmotiv" with the square, the primal shape of the house in chinese tradition and mythology. The entire structure of the watercube is based on a unique lightweight-construction, developped by PTW with ARUP, and derived from the the structure of water in the state of aggregation of FOAM. Behind the totally randomized appearance hides a strict geometry as can be found in natural systems like crystals, cells and molecular structures - (the most efficient subdivision of 3dimensional space with equally sized cells. --> structure report)
By applying this novel material and technology the transparency and the appearing randomness is transposed into the inner and outer skins of ETFE cushions. Unlike traditional stadium structures with gigantic columns and beams, cables and backspans, to which a facade system is applied, in the watercube design the architectural space, structure and facade are one and the same element. Conceptually the square box and the interior spaces are carved out of an undefined cluster of foam bubbles, symbolizing a condition of nature that is transformed into a condition of culture.
The appearance of the aquatic centre is therefore a "cube of water molecules" - the WATERCUBE. In combination with the main stadium by Herzog de Meuron, a duality between fire and water, male and female, Yin and Yang is being created with all its associated tensions/attractions.
Water This is a building all about water.
Water becomes a profound ‘building material’ that de-materialises the building in a meaningful way. That is the molecular structure of water in its foam state is magnified into the structure of the building. The structure of water softens and dissolves all the boundaries, and gives the sophisticated ‘micro’ details to the monolithic totality. The sophistication and funness of the components and the simplicity and monumentally of the whole gives the building an interesting dualit
y. In an inland city like Beijing, water becomes so precious and being with water such a luxury in people’s life. To us the Swimming Centre transcends its functionality as just an Olympic venue, it is also a paradise in Beijing’s heart that bring to people the endless happiness, joy and all kinds of fantasises of being with water.
Relationship with National Stadium We believe the National Swimming Centre should support the National Stadium. It should show wisdom and beauty without exhibiting a big gesture that competes or overpowers the National Stadium. As a counterpoint to the exciting, energy-giving, masculine, totemic image of the National Stadium, the Water Cube appears as serene, emotion-engaging, ethereal and poetic, with changing moods that directly respond to people, events and changing seasons. The sense of serenity and the potential for changing moods are considered the key features, ensuring our NSC provides that important supporting role.
Chinese philosophy
Square A square is not an alien in Chinese culture. To position themselves in the universe, Chinese choose the square as the prime geometry for their cities, palaces, and houses. (As a capital that has served six dynasties in six hundred years, the city of Beijing is a very good example). ‘Facing south, his feet firmly on the fifth element, the earth, is man. Via a negative approach-not knowing how high is up, how deep is down, and how far away is the end of the world in each direction-man fixes his position as equidistant form the end of the universe on all sides, and places himself squarely in the middle. ’‘Scattered inside the square world of man are these words: “One thousand autumns and ten thousand years, enduring happiness, never to end!” In Chinese history, there are always good years and bad years, but the nation is forever believed the Central Kingdom, that is how the nation named itself. ‘The Chinese organises his basic cell in order to organise the world around it. His immediate world, measurable, controllable, is forever encroaching on the Unknown’ . The square is the order, intelligence, and knowledge of man, the ‘Chinese ideal of regulated harmony’.
NELSON I. WU (WU NO-SUN)，Chinese and India Architectur - The City of Man, the Mountain of God, and the Realm of the Immortals • Heaven round and Earth square
In Chinese culture, there is a traditional idea of ‘Heaven round and Earth square’. It has been expressed in many architecture design and city planning practice. If the Stadium is envisioned as the place where man communes with the Gods spiritually and physically and where the fire is lit up towards the sky, the National Swimming Centre the place that brings to people the happiness, joy and all kinds of fantasies of being with water, which is a key natural element on earth in
Chinese culture.
• Yin – Yang The National Swimming Centre is axially related to the National Stadium across the Olympic Green, building a dialogue between earth (square) and sky (round), water and fire, engaging and radiating, poetic and totemic, changing moods and sweeping form, or in a word, Yin and Yang. They mutually define and reinforce each other.
• To be something is to be nothing We envisioned the National Swimming Centre as the counterpart of the National Stadium with contained wisdom and beauty without showing big gesture to compete or overpower it. The simplicity of a square provides a seemingly plain background to allow the play of many changes. To be something is to be nothing.
The Landscape A cube is dropped into water; water splashes out on the earth as scattering drops with ripples spreading away. This is the parti of the landscape of NSC. The ‘water drops’ become water pounds with vegetations, sculptures, fountains or other water features. Just as the ancient square Chinese city, such as the Forbidden City, that guarded by a river, the NSC building is separated from the land around by a lineal moat at the perimeter. Bridges are the only way to lead into the building. A consistent water wall runs above the moat to lift up the space frame system from the ground. At the entrance area the water wall becomes full height with a glass curtain wall on the back to allow the ‘water filtered’ day light into the lobby. People experience a walk through a water-screened space at entry every time they go into the building. The moat also collects the rainwater and alike that runs off the façade. Connected below ground the moat and the water pounds joins together to serve as a water collecting, filtering and recycling system for the building to save water and achieve the goal of ‘Green Olympics’.
The Green House The NSC has been designed to act like a greenhouse, absorbing solar radiation and avoiding heat loss. The double skin façade of bubbles is so well insulated that it has the potential to achieve an annual net heat gain. The principle is to capture the solar radiation in the area of the building where it is most needed around the pool and keep it there. Thermal mass of the concrete and the water will absorb and re-radiate this heat at night when it is most required. To achieve the right balance, the façade of the building has three modes of operation to respond to the climate summer, winter and mid season. The clear and translucent facades will allow high levels of natural daylight, which removes the requirement to artificially light the pool during the day. A core feature in the design of ETFE skin is the variable shading control system.
By modifying the pressures in the cavity, the internal foils can be either ‘open’ or ‘closed’. This allows the light levels to be controlled to create a dappled effect, similar to the light under a tree or deep under water. The light can be controlled to only fall on areas that do not suffer from glaring reflections, alternatively the entire roof and wall can be turned ‘off’ to achieve optimal lighting conditions for television cameras.
At night the building will glow to highlight the activities within.
The so-called WATERCUBE associates water as a structural and thematical "leitmotiv" with the square, the primal shape of the house in chinese tradition and mythology. The entire structure of the watercube is based on a unique lightweight-construction, developped by PTW with ARUP, and derived from the the structure of water in the state of aggregation of FOAM. Behind the totally randomized appearance hides a strict geometry as can be found in natural systems like crystals, cells and molecular structures - (the most efficient subdivision of 3dimensional space with equally sized cells. --> structure report)
By applying this novel material and technology the transparency and the appearing randomness is transposed into the inner and outer skins of ETFE cushions. Unlike traditional stadium structures with gigantic columns and beams, cables and backspans, to which a facade system is applied, in the watercube design the architectural space, structure and facade are one and the same element. Conceptually the square box and the interior spaces are carved out of an undefined cluster of foam bubbles, symbolizing a condition of nature that is transformed into a condition of culture.
The appearance of the aquatic centre is therefore a "cube of water molecules" - the WATERCUBE. In combination with the main stadium by Herzog de Meuron, a duality between fire and water, male and female, Yin and Yang is being created with all its associated tensions/attractions.
Water This is a building all about water.
Water becomes a profound ‘building material’ that de-materialises the building in a meaningful way. That is the molecular structure of water in its foam state is magnified into the structure of the building. The structure of water softens and dissolves all the boundaries, and gives the sophisticated ‘micro’ details to the monolithic totality. The sophistication and funness of the components and the simplicity and monumentally of the whole gives the building an interesting dualit
y. In an inland city like Beijing, water becomes so precious and being with water such a luxury in people’s life. To us the Swimming Centre transcends its functionality as just an Olympic venue, it is also a paradise in Beijing’s heart that bring to people the endless happiness, joy and all kinds of fantasises of being with water.Relationship with National Stadium We believe the National Swimming Centre should support the National Stadium. It should show wisdom and beauty without exhibiting a big gesture that competes or overpowers the National Stadium. As a counterpoint to the exciting, energy-giving, masculine, totemic image of the National Stadium, the Water Cube appears as serene, emotion-engaging, ethereal and poetic, with changing moods that directly respond to people, events and changing seasons. The sense of serenity and the potential for changing moods are considered the key features, ensuring our NSC provides that important supporting role.
Chinese philosophy
Square A square is not an alien in Chinese culture. To position themselves in the universe, Chinese choose the square as the prime geometry for their cities, palaces, and houses. (As a capital that has served six dynasties in six hundred years, the city of Beijing is a very good example). ‘Facing south, his feet firmly on the fifth element, the earth, is man. Via a negative approach-not knowing how high is up, how deep is down, and how far away is the end of the world in each direction-man fixes his position as equidistant form the end of the universe on all sides, and places himself squarely in the middle. ’‘Scattered inside the square world of man are these words: “One thousand autumns and ten thousand years, enduring happiness, never to end!” In Chinese history, there are always good years and bad years, but the nation is forever believed the Central Kingdom, that is how the nation named itself. ‘The Chinese organises his basic cell in order to organise the world around it. His immediate world, measurable, controllable, is forever encroaching on the Unknown’ . The square is the order, intelligence, and knowledge of man, the ‘Chinese ideal of regulated harmony’.
NELSON I. WU (WU NO-SUN)，Chinese and India Architectur - The City of Man, the Mountain of God, and the Realm of the Immortals • Heaven round and Earth square
In Chinese culture, there is a traditional idea of ‘Heaven round and Earth square’. It has been expressed in many architecture design and city planning practice. If the Stadium is envisioned as the place where man communes with the Gods spiritually and physically and where the fire is lit up towards the sky, the National Swimming Centre the place that brings to people the happiness, joy and all kinds of fantasies of being with water, which is a key natural element on earth in
Chinese culture.• Yin – Yang The National Swimming Centre is axially related to the National Stadium across the Olympic Green, building a dialogue between earth (square) and sky (round), water and fire, engaging and radiating, poetic and totemic, changing moods and sweeping form, or in a word, Yin and Yang. They mutually define and reinforce each other.
• To be something is to be nothing We envisioned the National Swimming Centre as the counterpart of the National Stadium with contained wisdom and beauty without showing big gesture to compete or overpower it. The simplicity of a square provides a seemingly plain background to allow the play of many changes. To be something is to be nothing.
The Landscape A cube is dropped into water; water splashes out on the earth as scattering drops with ripples spreading away. This is the parti of the landscape of NSC. The ‘water drops’ become water pounds with vegetations, sculptures, fountains or other water features. Just as the ancient square Chinese city, such as the Forbidden City, that guarded by a river, the NSC building is separated from the land around by a lineal moat at the perimeter. Bridges are the only way to lead into the building. A consistent water wall runs above the moat to lift up the space frame system from the ground. At the entrance area the water wall becomes full height with a glass curtain wall on the back to allow the ‘water filtered’ day light into the lobby. People experience a walk through a water-screened space at entry every time they go into the building. The moat also collects the rainwater and alike that runs off the façade. Connected below ground the moat and the water pounds joins together to serve as a water collecting, filtering and recycling system for the building to save water and achieve the goal of ‘Green Olympics’.
The Green House The NSC has been designed to act like a greenhouse, absorbing solar radiation and avoiding heat loss. The double skin façade of bubbles is so well insulated that it has the potential to achieve an annual net heat gain. The principle is to capture the solar radiation in the area of the building where it is most needed around the pool and keep it there. Thermal mass of the concrete and the water will absorb and re-radiate this heat at night when it is most required. To achieve the right balance, the façade of the building has three modes of operation to respond to the climate summer, winter and mid season. The clear and translucent facades will allow high levels of natural daylight, which removes the requirement to artificially light the pool during the day. A core feature in the design of ETFE skin is the variable shading control system.
By modifying the pressures in the cavity, the internal foils can be either ‘open’ or ‘closed’. This allows the light levels to be controlled to create a dappled effect, similar to the light under a tree or deep under water. The light can be controlled to only fall on areas that do not suffer from glaring reflections, alternatively the entire roof and wall can be turned ‘off’ to achieve optimal lighting conditions for television cameras.
At night the building will glow to highlight the activities within.
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