Beijing National Stadium

Location: Beijing, China

Another stadium that is known as a 'Bird’s Nest’, the Beijing National Stadium is a brilliant arena, which was home to the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic games - and cost US$423 million to build. It was originally designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron, with the overarching pattern being heavily influenced by Chinese ceramics.

The arena's circular shape is said to represent "heaven", but more often, it is described as a 'bird’s nest’ due to the arena's coating - a series of webbed steel to support the roof and shade the seats. Inside, the stadium a red concrete seating 'bowl'. Interestingly, the Beijing National Stadium is located in one of the worlds most seismic zones, which is why part of the design brief was to make the structure is capable of resisting earthquakes without taking much damage.

Photos: © Iwan Baan