herzog and de meuron’s beijing

with the announcement this past saturday that chicago will be the usoc’s bid city for the international competition to host the 2016 games, i was reminded of a pair of projects under construction for the beijing games in 2008 that i cannot wait to see completed.  two of my favorite architects, jacques herzog and pierre de meuron, have prepared a breathtaking stadium to be home to the 2008 beijing olympic games (seen below).

the stadium, which features an elegant and beautifully proportioned lattice exoskeleton, will, like so much of herzog and de meuron’s work, become a softly glowing beacon at the core of the games.

but the building i am most excited for is the national swim center, commonly known as the bubble-building for its organically-undulating, and otherwise other-worldly, bubble-like etfe skin (seen above).  the soft diaphanous glowing quality of the backlit etfe gives an almost magically aura to the structure.  truthfully, the material reminds me of the 3-form chroma we talked about a while back.

if both of these buildings follow through on the ambiance presented in the interior renderings they will each present a stunning experience to the user (stadium just above, swim center just below).  what’s even more interesting is that these two buildings, the stadium and the national swim center, are siting within a stone’s throw of one another, in constant, and very unique, dialogue (as seen in the first image at the top).

additionally, herzog and de meuron were recently awarded the 2007 royal gold medal in architecture, they had previously received the 2001 pritzker prize.  i can’t wait, bring on beijing 2008.