Introduction The crystal clear National Aquatics Center, "Water Cube," is the most beautiful among all the Olympic sports venues under construction in Beijing. Located within the Beijing Olympic Park, the "Water Cube" stands alongside the "Bird's Nest" (National Stadium) on either side of the northern end of Beijing's central axis, forming a relatively complete image of Beijing as a famous historical and cultural city.
The "Water Cube" covers an area of about 80,000 square meters, with a height of approximately 30 meters, making it the only public building in the world that is fully enclosed by a membrane structure.
In Beijing, at 11:55 AM yesterday, the last piece of ETFE membrane was installed on the National Aquatics Center, "Water Cube," marking the smooth completion of the outer membrane structure of the "Water Cube." This water-blue magical building, which corresponds to the "Bird's Nest," finally made its "membrane magic" appearance after three years of construction.
The "Water Cube" resembles a beautiful blue bubble kingdom. It occupies an area of 7.8 hectares, consisting of five swimming zones with 17,000 seats. However, above ground, no steel bars or concrete were used in its construction; instead, it was built using a membrane structure. Both the walls and the roof are connected by fine steel pipes, with 12,000 nodes. Additionally, the membrane structure air cushions, only 2.4 millimeters thick, envelop the entire building like a layer of skin. Compared to glass, it allows more sunlight and air to penetrate, maintaining a constant temperature in the pool and saving 30% electricity. The renowned American science magazine *Popular Science* included it in the "Top 100 Best Scientific Achievements of 2006." IOC President Jacques Rogge praised these two 2008 Olympic competition venues during his visit to the under-construction National Stadium and National Aquatics Center, calling them architectural masterpieces comparable to Sydney Opera House.
On December 24, 2003, both the "Water Cube" and the "Bird's Nest" began construction simultaneously. Yesterday, the last of the 1,437 air cushions in the outer membrane structure of the "Water Cube" was installed. With the completion of the outer membrane structure, the installation of the inner air cushions and interior decoration will continue. The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of 2007. The "Water Cube" has 6,000 permanent seats and will host swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo events during the 2008 Olympics. After the Olympics, it will become a multi-functional large-scale aquatic sports center. (Beijing Friend)