2008 Summer Olympic & Paralympic Games - Beijing National Stadium (Beijing)

The Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the "Bird's Nest" due to its architecture, is a large multipurpose stadium located in the Olympic Green Sports complex in Beijing. It will host the Athletics competitions, Football final, and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. It will have an initial capacity of 95,000 spectators during the Olympics. After the Olympics the capacity will be reduced to 80,000 spectators. The stadium is designed by Herzog & De Meuron. Ground was broken in December 2003 and construction started in March 2004, but it was halted by the high construction cost in August 2004 and construction continued until it was completed and opened in March 2008. The stadium is 330 metres long by 220 metres wide. It has a gross floor area of of 250,000 square metres and it was built with 36 kilometres of unwrapped steel.The cost of the stadium is $423,000,000


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