Architecture dork take on Beijing.

I dorked out on architecture all day. There is some pretty fantastic stuff going on here. The best part was when navigating to one of the places I knew, I would stumble on a couple others. Sadly, my memory card was nearly full so I only snapped 20 or so pics.

The CCTV complex was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. It is very impressive to see the two towers going up at such steep angles. Most of the site has a 40' billboard around it, but I was able to sneak into an alleyway and get a bit closer. Next to CCTV/TVCC there was a giant housing project that was quite nice. http://images.google.cn/images?complete=1&hl=zh-CN&newwindow=1&q=cctv%20oma&btnG=Google+%E6%90%9C%E7%B4%A2&cr=countryCN&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

The National Stadium structure looks to be all up. Unfortunately I could not get close to this one as the whole area is one BIG construction site. From the distance I was at, it looks just like the renderings.
http://images.google.cn/images?svnum=10&um=1&complete=1&hl=zh-CN&cr=countryCN&newwindow=1&q=olympic+national+stadium+beijing
(google: Olympic National Stadium Beijing)

I could get a little closer to the water cube. Very cool, though the blue color is a lot more subtle in the renderings. Some of the ETFE pillows have not been inflated and that made it look a little dishevelled. I imagine the interior experience will be amazing because you could see faint shadows of people moving about inside. The whole thing will be bathed in natural light. It will probably be tough to cool though.

http://images.google.cn/images?svnum=10&um=1&complete=1&hl=zh-CN&cr=countryCN&newwindow=1&q=national+aquatics+center&btnG=%E6%90%9C%E7%B4%A2%E5%9B%BE%E7%89%87
(google: National Aquatics Center)

Overall this will be a VERY impressive complex. I will have to come back here when it is finished. I will definitely return to Beijing.

For the non architects...I hope this post didn't bore you.