Beijing settled on the Water Cube design concept in mid-2003. (Getty Images)(ATR) Four years after the start of construction, Beijing debuts its showpiece aquatics venue.
The National Aquatics Center – better known as the Water Cube – was dedicated by its builders, Games organizers and the mayor of Beijing on Jan. 28.
"We are very happy after five years of efforts," says Li Aiqing, president of the Beijing State-owned Assets Management Company, the company that delivered the venue.
"It is one of the world's largest swimming centers, and is complicated and unique," he says. "I am very excited and proud," says Li Aiqing, president of the company that delivered the venue. (ATR/B.Smith)
The toughest challenge was the erection of the steel structure to house transparent membranes that create "water bubbles" across the roof and along the four outer walls, says Li.
Installation of the honeycomb-like steel structure began in mid-2005. The first air cushion was installed 14 months later.
BOCOG president Liu Qi and Beijing mayor Guo Jinlong attended the handover ceremony and both dipped their hands in the water of the main competition pool.
The venue's first test comes on Feb. 1 with the Good Luck Beijing 2008 Swimming China Open. On Feb. 19, an International A small crowd of invited guests attend the dedication. (Getty Images)Swimming Federation Diving World Cup event begins. Next month, the water cube hosts a synchronized swimming Olympic qualifier.
After the Games, the venue will be refurbished into a fashionable aquatics center open to athletes and recreational swimmers, according to a BOCOG statement.
The venue may have cost as much as $200 million to build; most funds came in the form of donations from overseas Chinese.
For a look inside the venue, click here to access the ATR Water Cube gallery.
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