2022 Winter Olympics National Speed Skating Hall
From the summer Olympic games in 2008 to the Winter Olympics games in 2022, China has experienced a great change from the big economy to an economic power. A prominent symbol manifests cultural identity and confidence. In the new period of historical opportunity, the National Speed Hall is the only new built stadium for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. The stadium carries the vision, to host the games, to drive 300 million people’s interest in snow and ice, and manifests the spirit of modern Olympic games and sports facilities with Chinese cultural characteristic.
Beijing has hosted multiple international sporting events since the founding of the People’s Republic of China over 60 years. Built up stadiums including the Worker’s Stadium, the Workers’ Gymnasium, the Capital Stadium, the Asian Games buildings, and 2008 Olympic Stadium (the Bird’s Nest) already became a witness of history and important places of physical exercise for citizens. The National Speed Skating Hall would get attention all over the world undoubtedly.
The location is in the west of the north area of Beijing Olympic Park. It is a broad landscape for outside activities in the east, the National Tennis Center in the north. The site running through the Olympic Park on the axis of Beijing plays a dominant role in the surroundings. Relying on the relationship between the site and the axis, there should be a change in the urban space to form a sub-axis in east-west direction. So the building facing the park in the south looks dignified, which accords with understanding and acceptation of spaces of the Chinese Architecture.
After studying the Chinese tradition culture, we use the basic pattern rhombus to design the project as to meet the demand of all functions before and after the Winter Olympic Games. Throughout the history of Chinese traditional art, rhombus originates from simulation and abstraction of figurative ornamentation of people. It contains the principles of formal beauty such as symmetry, balance, contrast, uniformity and rhythm. Rhombus, the most Chinese graphics, has been used in implements, clothing, furniture and architecture widely. Taking rhombus as the prototype of the Winter Olympic National Speed Skating Hall with unique appearance will form a clear contrast with the National Tennis Center, the National Stadium, the National Aquatics Center.
Ancient Chinese skillful craftsman's intelligence is also reflected in cutting and polishing geometries. They have always tried their best to innovate complex changes whereby the geometries can express a good moral. Variations and combination of the rhombus can derive peculiar variants and multiple pattern. The four corners of the rhombus adopts curved lines so that the appearance of the building presents smooth and humble features, and adds affinity and uniformity to the building and its surroundings. The form based on the pattern of rhombus twisted 8 times creates 8 curved lines from the roof to the ground level, demonstrating a sense of rotating movement. The torsion forms eight void areas at the bottom of the building, which becomes the main and secondary entrances of the building. Metallic materials runs through on both interior and exterior walls to make consistent from outside to inside . Glimmering metallic panels with abstract pattern of ice flowers is a metaphor of sporting spaces for ice and snow world. The speed skating hall in the shape of diamond renders a cold and delicate image.
