Herzog & de Meuron's Olympic stadium design to be shelved and redesigned in an attempt to lower costs as part of central government's drive to curb 'white elephant' projects. From the The Straits Times
BEIJING - Work on China's 3.5 billion yuan (S$730 million) national stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games has been suspended, amid calls for a redesign and cost cuts.
The 100,000-seat stadium's 'bird-cage' design would have to be axed, a spokesman for the Games organisers said, as local governments across China scramble to curb extravagance and halt 'white elephant' projects under an ongoing central government drive to prevent the economy from overheating.
Advertisement
Plans to build a towering 5 billion yuan headquarters for broadcaster China Central Television were shelved recently. The 230m high structure would have been the tallest building in Beijing.
Sources said the plan drew the ire of Premier Wen Jiabao, who has tried to rein in investments in real estate, cement, auto production and steel projects to avert economic fallout.
The newly completed National Theatre has also come under fire. Critics said the futuristic look of the building, designed by French architect Paul Andreu, does not fit well with its historical surroundings. The bubble-shaped opera house, built at a cost of US$325 million (S$560 million), was said to be too expensive and difficult to clean.
Builders broke ground last December for the Swiss- designed Olympic stadium, whose latticework of girders is a prominent image of China's Games preparations.
Dubbed the 'Bird Nest' by the Chinese press, the original plan called for up 160,000 tonnes of steel - four times the average for a conventional building, said Mr Peng Peigeng, an architecture professor at Tsinghua University.
Ms Zhu Jing, of the 2008 Olympics organising committee, said work has been suspended for a redesign meant to lower the cost. She said she did not know how long the suspension would last, the new projected cost or other details.
The suspension follows a demand by Beijing Mayor Wang Qishan last month for organisers to be more thrifty.
There have also been reports of concerns over the stadium's safety.
According to Hong Kong's pro-Beijing daily Wen Wei Po, the suspension arose from a report submitted by 10 senior academics with links to the construction sector.
The paper said the group told Premier Wen that the stadium's design focused too much on aesthetics and ignored basic principles such as safety, practicality and environmental protection.
The alarming amount of steel, with no guarantee of stability and safety, was a waste of resources, it concluded.
The central government reportedly heeded the views and set the rule that organisers should not 'have their eyes only on things big and foreign'.
The government regards the Olympics as a matter of national prestige and has said it plans to spend US$24.2 billion on new subway lines and other improvements in Beijing. -- AP, Reuters
1 Comment
Paul Petrunia: burning the 4am oil!
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.