China’s first international standard ski jumping venue stunning the world-＂Snow Ruyi＂ shows the beauty of China culture.

　　It has the longest ski jumping track in the world, and it is the first ski jumping venue in the history of the Winter Olympics to set up a large cantilever building at the top departure area.

　　It is known as the most designed ski jumping platform in the world, just like a wishful handle, lying in the mountains with a graceful posture, and it is one of the most recognizable "star venues" in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

　　It is the national ski jumping center located in the ancient poplar complex in Zhangjiakou of Beijing Winter Olympics. This venue, which is vividly called "Snow Ruyi", is also the first ski jumping venue in China that meets international standards.

　　Behind the amazing world of "Snow Ruyi", it not only reflects the unique expression of China culture for the Winter Olympics, but also depends on the design concept that the design team combines technical breakthrough with aesthetic conception. Zhang Li, the chief designer of Zhangjiakou Division of Beijing Winter Olympics and dean of the School of Architecture of Tsinghua University, and his team participated in and witnessed the birth of Zhangjiakou Division, a competition venue with the highest technical difficulty and the largest workload. He presided over the design of "Snow Ruyi".

　　How was the idea of "snow as you wish" born? How to embody the requirements of green hosting the Olympic Games? Where does the idea of architectural aesthetics and functional integration come from? Recently, Zhang Li and his design team accepted an exclusive interview with the Economic Daily reporter, revealing the cultural image and design concept behind "Snow Ruyi".

　　Highlight the beauty of China’s design

　　The track curve of platform skiing is "S". At the beginning of design, Zhang Li and his design team have been trying to find the elements of China traditional culture that fit the "S" curve. "Actually ‘ Snow ruyi ’ The starting point of the design is the curve of the track, using the beauty of the trajectory of the movement to find the transmission of China cultural elements. " Zhang Li said that the initial design team found hundreds of such elements. For example, armrests of round-backed chairs, antique frames, colorful clouds, scabbard, etc. Ruyi is the image that is best combined with ski jumping itself and recognized by all parties.

　　In traditional cultural symbols, Ruyi is divided into three parts: the handle head, the handle body and the handle tail. "We identify ‘ Snow ruyi ’ The image, the most important thing is that the handle is a little ‘ S’ The curve of the shape, it is very smooth and very soft, which fits the gentle and modest beauty in China traditional culture. " Zhang Li said.

　　However, it is very challenging to interpret the ideal form with architectural design. Yang Xiao, the head of Xueruyi structure and the chief engineer of the eighth branch of Tsinghua University Architectural Design and Research Institute, said that the structural design should not only realize the creativity of architects, but also ensure the safety and economy of the building structure, and overcome the large wind load and temperature on the top of the mountain, as well as the overturning moment and vertical earthquake caused by the huge eccentric ring.

　　"Snow Ruyi" consists of summit club, slide area and bottom stand area. The biggest challenge is the first part of Ruyi, that is, the summit club in the departure area at the top of the National Ski Platform Center. To complete the expression of Ruyi’s overall image, the volume must not be too small. It is difficult to build a building with a height of about 50 meters on the top of the mountain, and there is a huge cantilever close to 40 meters.

　　In order to overcome these challenges, the design team turned the originally designed solid disk into a hollow ring. This breakthrough in design gives the venue a reasonable and beautiful opportunity to meet the technical needs and serve the artistic expression from the top appearance to the structural calculation, and then to the internal space arrangement. "This makes the building structure more stable, the center of gravity more reasonable, the cantilever part lighter, the interior space richer, and the 360-degree panoramic view of Chongli Mountain." Yang Xiao said.

　　Embody the concept of green hosting the Olympic Games

　　In the competition venues of Beijing Winter Olympics, "Snow Ruyi" is regarded as one of the green, low-carbon and sustainable models. In the site selection, it makes full use of the natural landform, and the drop and shape of the valley where it is located are highly compatible with the competition requirements.

　　In order to minimize the damage to the surrounding environment, the design team found another way to "frame" the 168-meter-long track in the air. However, in the valley, the "frame" needs a lot of cantilever and overhead design, which is more difficult in construction and needs to be treated with a foundation structure such as bored piles. This difficult task falls on Yang Xiao. In the choice of foundation scheme, the main structure of Xueruyi adopts the manual digging pile foundation scheme with low dependence on machinery and minimal influence on natural terrain. In the process of implementation, Yang Xiao has to go back and forth to the construction site several times a month to verify the engineering data such as the top elevation, pile length and bearing layer of each pile one by one. The design team calculates and rechecks in time according to the feedback data, and modifies the design drawings, finally achieving the goal of "rising from the ground".

　　Wang Hao, an architect of Tsinghua University Architectural Design and Research Institute, said that during the construction process, Xueruyi and other infrastructures in Zhangjiakou Division used renewable and degradable materials and renewable energy as much as possible, and the standards of many materials exceeded the requirements of the building itself.

　　"We hope to pass ‘ Snow ruyi ’ Show China people’s attitude towards nature and seeking harmonious coexistence. We seek between mountains and rivers ‘ Touch intervention ’ To integrate our building with the whole environment. " Zhang Li said.

　　Create a circular shared space

　　In previous Winter Olympics, there was always a group of venues called "Nordic Group", that is, the group of venues related to nordic combined and Biathlon, which became an important cultural tourism destination of the host city after the games.

　　In Zhang Li’s view, architecture comes from life and should serve life. If a competition venue is only used by athletes during the competition, it will be difficult to combine it with the lives of ordinary people after the competition. If we want competition venues and facilities to serve the daily needs of ordinary people and play a long-term role in our cultural life, we must fully consider the post-competition utilization in the design of venues, which is also something to be solved under the guidance of the sustainable concept of Beijing Winter Olympics.

　　The ancient poplar stadium group where "Xueruyi" is located covers an area of 420 hectares, including national ski jumping center, national cross-country ski center, national biathlon center and other venues and facilities. Between the ancient poplar venues, Zhang Li and the design team added a pedestrian bridge "Ice Yuhuan" for spectators and tourists to walk slowly, with a total length of more than 3,200 meters and a height of 7 meters from the ground, which is convenient for visitors to travel back and forth between venues, thus forming a slow-moving system. According to the calculation, the ancient poplar venues can provide about 185 minutes’ stay for the audience and tourists.

　　A reverse slope is often made under the conventional ski jumping facilities, so that athletes can slow down faster. Different from this, under the platform of "Xueruyi" is a flat field, which extends the buffer distance of athletes and gives consideration to safety and post-game utilization requirements. According to reports, the venue can be used as a football field, which ensures that the stadium can be used for holding regular large-scale activities such as football matches and concerts after the Winter Olympics. This design also provides an example for the comprehensive utilization of single sports venues after the game.

　　Architecture is also a symbol of culture. Zhang Li said that as an architect, he hopes to share China people’s understanding of the relationship between man and nature, the exploration of sustainable development, environmental friendliness and other concepts with the world through architectural works such as "Snow Ruyi", so that the world can appreciate more the beauty of China’s design and culture.