National Stadium Beijing or the Bird's Nest is unique thanks to its wonderful design. The venue will host athletics and football at Beijing Olympics 2008.

National Stadium Beijing

Location Olympic Green
Total Land Surface 258,000 sq m
Permanent Seats 80,000
Temporary Seats 11,000
Competitions Athletics, Football
Construction Cost 4 billion yuan (App. USD $500 million)
Surface Grass
Opened March, 2008


National Stadium Beijing
National Stadium Beijing, also called the Bird's Nest because of its unique design, is located at Olympic Green and lies over an area of about 63.8 acres. The stadium is designed by the famous Swiss architect Herzog & DeMeuron and China Architecture Design Institute. Construction of the stadium commenced in December, 2003. The stadium, located at Olympic Green, Beijing, is owned by the Government of People's Republic of China.

Seating Capacity
National Stadium has the seating capacity of 91,000. 80,000 seats are permanent while 11,000 seats are temporary.

Events in National Stadium
National Stadium will host the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Olympics. The grand and modern stadium will also host Athletics and Football events during the Olympics.

National Stadium Post Olympics
After the Olympics, the Stadium will be the stage for both national and international sporting events, as well as cultural and entertainment activities. Thus, it will be useful even after the Olympics.

Opening of the Stadium
National Stadium was opened for the public in March, 2008.

Stadium Statistics
National stadium is 330 metres long, 220 metres wide, and is 69 metres tall. It uses 258,000 square metres of space and has a usable area of 204,000 square metres. 45,000 tonnes steel has been used for making it. It has approximate 11,000 square metres of underground rooms with waterproof walls. Making of the National Stadium has costed 4 billion yuan (App. USD $500 million).

Design
Chinese officials selected Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron collaborated with ArupSport and China Architecture Design & Research Group for making the National Stadium. Contemporary Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, has been the Artistic Consultant for design.