During the 2008 Summer Olympic Games, China will be presenting itself to the world in part through the architecture of the Olympic venues. Many of the buildings are now nearing completion, and I’ve put together a small collection of my favorite publicly available photos from Flickr.

1. Beijing “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium

Photo by CATIC-TEDer

The most recognizable building to date is the Olympic Stadium itself. Also known as the “Bird’s Nest,” the stadium was designed by a Swiss architecture firm with guidance from Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist who was originally quite proud of the design: “In China, a bird’s nest is very expensive, something you eat on special occasions.” (Source) However, Ai has since, rather famously and publicly criticized the Chinese Olympic committee for putting together a ‘pretend smile’ to the world, in the YouTube clip below:

1. The “Water Cube” Aquatic Center:

Photo by angus_mac_123

The Olympic Committee has been criticized for awarding so many of the contracts to foreign rather than Chinese firms. For example, the above National Acquatic Center a.k.a. “the Water Cube” seems to have been designed and built entirely by European firms. However there are at least some characteristically Chinese aspects to its construction; the joints between each of the ETFE “bubbles” are not just bolted on but also welded together — a labor-intensive process that has surely kept a large number of Chinese employed during its construction.

3. The National Gymnasium (Basketball venue)

Photo by Wolfiewolf

The National Gymnasium has not received as much press as the stadium and the aquatic center, but its design appears to have some intriguing elements. In the above poster, the building looks like a giant circuit board (perhaps something the Borg would have built?). I cannot find much information on this design, so if you have some insight into it, please let me know in the comments!

Photo by Wolfiewolf

You can find more photos on the Beijing Olympics’ official site, here.