Hip to be Square

I know I've said in past entries that the Beijing Olympics should have been boycotted, and I stand firmly behind that. But can we, just for a second, talk about how brilliant some of the architecture of the venues is? Probably the most recognizable symbol of the games so far is the national stadium, affectionately known as "The Bird's Nest."

I don't have much of academic merit to say about the stadium, other than that it's wicked cool. It's actually a very brave design- turning the skeleton of a building, usually hidden beneath sheet metal and other decoration into something of an abstract sculpture. Perhaps it was meant to suggest some kind of transparency between China and the rest of the world. It literally deconstructs the walls between international competition and the rest of the Chinese culture, possibly in an effort to debunk international criticisms of China's secrecy and notoriously opaque borders. Needless to say, a building that allows the energy of international competition to flow openly to a supposedly closed culture is hardly a solution to China's human rights and freedom of information violations (a very forgiving term). BUT, it does look really beautiful and makes some complex plays on the nature of openness, and what is revealed and hidden in a newly globalized world. 

My favorite venue, though, is the aquatics centre, known as "The Water Cube," pictured here on the left, next to the National Stadium. 

The Water Cube is absolute genius, as far as I'm concerned. The architects, a firm from Australia, in cahoots with National Chinese design bodies  came up with the design in tandem, based off of an image of the structure of soap bubbles if viewed over an infinite array, which is kind of a cute way to think of a building- a big, blocky bubble bath. The exterior and interior walls are actually made of a plastic film which is inflated and continually pumped, creating the "bubble" effect of the walls. What I love so much about the design, though, is the clever plays on solid/fluid, whimsy/order, and the nature of perfection and beauty. The water cube is...well...basically a big blue cube. But within the strict, sharp, geometric boundaries of the cube, the architects are able to achieve a sense of wonder and whimsy. The walls, through the soap bubble pattern appear to be honey-combed quite at random, adding an element of fluidity to the rigidity of the cube shape, and hinting at the physical beauty and artistry that takes place inside. The architects take this sense of fluidity one step further by embedding tens of thousands of tiny LED lights in the frame of the walls, allowing for a constantly shifting exterior presentation. The walls seem to wave and sway and have an almost hypnotic quality to them. In this way, even though the building is just a cube, we are able to experience a sense of fluidity- creation within restriction. Considering the events that take place in this venue, it's hard to think that this juxtaposition between technique and artistry is a mistake. Take diving, for example. While based almost exclusively on strength, perfection of form and replicability, it's impossible to say that there isn't some amount of beauty and magic in the perfect dive. Just like the walls of the cube, sport is an exhibition of the beauty within conformity, individual expression within perfection of form. It's a genius design that deeply destabilizes and pokes fun at the old notions of geometric stoicism and embodies the spirit of sport itself. 

Like I said, pretty buildings don't do much to allay freedom of speech and human rights violations, but they're pretty neat.