PERMANENT FIXTURES

Tao Zihui

Interview with Zhang Li, the venue designer for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

With the 2022 BeijingWinter OlympicGames just aroundthe corner, someof the competitionvenues for the event are already populartourist attractions.

Duringpreparations forthe 2022 Winter Games, sustainableuse of the legacy of the 2008 BeijingOlympic Games has been realized.For example, the National AquaticsCenter, also known as the WaterCube, has been transformed into an“Ice Cube” for curling events withthe help of advanced technology.Meanwhile, a number of new venueswith distinctive features have alsobeen built such as the Zhangjiakou-based National Ski Jumping Center,nicknamed “Snow Ruyi” thanksto its shape resembling that of aruyi, a traditional Chinese sceptersymbolizing good luck, Beijing-based Big Air Shougang, with a designinspired by the image of flying apsaras seen in the Mogao Caves in Gansu Province, and the National Speed Skating Oval, dubbed the “Ice Ribbon” for its exterior design resembling 22 floating ribbons.

How do these newly constructed venues for the Winter Olympics demonstrate Oriental aesthetic and cultural values and help present China to the world? Zhang Li, dean of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University and chief designer of Big Air Shougang and sports facilities located in the Zhangjiakou competition zone, sat down with China Report ASEAN to share his thoughts on the topic.

Q: How can the Winter Olympic venues serve both the athletes and the public?

Zhang Li: Over the past decadeplus, I have participated in the design of several landmark structures in China such as the China Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the Beijing venue for the Seventh National Flower Show of China, andthe post-quake reconstruction ofYushu in Qinghai Province. I believe that construction of an event-typepublic facility has the power topromote urban renewal. Rather than serving just the event itself, it should also have a long-term influence.

Venues for the Olympic Games,especially ski events, are builtfor professional athletes. If thesestructures are to serve regular people for long after the events, they mustbe adapted for daily use. To ensurethe new competition venues for the2022 Winter Games can provide long- term services, our designs integrated functionality for general publicactivities into the highly specializedsports facilities.

The top of the “Snow Ruyi,” forexample, offers a panorama of thesurrounding mountains whileequipped with a 4,000-square-meter multifunctional assembly hall forperformances and conferences. Atthe same time, the outdoor stadiumat the bottom of the ramp providesa flat open space for activities likemini soccer games, product launches, concerts, and other types of activities.

Q: How did your design minimizethe impact ofvenue construction onthe ecological environment?

Zhang Li: We worked out a sensible compromise. So-called “minimumintervention” is often interpretedas “building as little as you can.” Inthe case of the Snow Ruyi, minimalconstruction would mean buildinga permanent track directly on amountain slope, which wouldconsequently block animal migration across both sides of the mountainor other forms of movement innature. So in our design, the rampfor ski jumping and the pedestrianbridge called the “Ice Jade Ring” areelevated abovethe ground.

This increasedthe volume ofconstruction, butthe surface runoff,nutrient access, andanimal movementcan all continueuninterrupted.

Q: How are you presentingChina to the world through thedesign of Olympic venues?

Zhang Li: I think there are threebasic elements. First, we needto focus on matters of commonconcern. For example, people are nowinterested in issues such as keepinghealthy, the lives of ordinary people,comprehensive development of afairer society, and climate change aswell. Any man-made structure mayneed to respond to issues like howto improve human health, promotesocial equality, and contribute tocarbon neutrality.

Second, we need to tell thestories of China through opencommunication with others. Chinahas gained considerable experience insports venue design and construction,but I’m not sure whether ourexperience could be of help to othercountries. We are glad to exchangeideas with our peers.

Third, we must focus on everythingthat has been achieved in our uniquecultural and social environment.Preparations for the 2022 WinterOlympics have created more jobs andhelped local villagers escape poverty.Work on infrastructure started longbefore construction of winter sports facilities thanks to the efforts of regional development planners and builders, not architects.

Q: How do your personal experiences influence your architectural design?

Zhang Li: A lot of people I have met have had a great influence on me. In the 1990s, many architects were obsessed with establishing personal style through buildings with weird shapes, while my doctoral supervisor Guan Zhaoye at Tsinghua University advocated architecture that was more modest than luxurious or novel. I think in the process of changing the landscape of our planet, architectural designers should work humbly and with awe and respect.

When I was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, I met with Professor Joan Busquets, the master planner for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He described to me howhe had helped transform the city in its run-up to the Olympic Games and taught me how to read the urban space. That meeting gave me new perspectives on interpreting the history of a city and the people living in it.

I grew up in a typical Beijing residential compound. My most enduring childhood memories in the 1970s involve everyone in the community knowing each other well and interacting with neighbors like members of a big family. A particularly touching moment happened when a flock of pigeons flew over the residential compound in the fall. The sunny sky and the smell of the soil accompanied sounds of pigeon calls and leaves of persimmon trees rustling softly in the wind, creating emotional memories for everyone living in the community. Such experience in a public space has always intrigued me as an architectural designer.