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Beijing National Aquatics Center
The National Aquatics Centre (), and colloquially known as the Water Cube () and the Ice Cube (), is an aquatics center at the Olympic Green in Beijing, China. The facility was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. During the Olympics — where it hosted diving, swimming and synchronized swimming events — 25 world records were broken in swimming. In July 2010, a renovation of the facility was completed, which included the addition of a public water park. With Beijing being awarded the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Water Cube became known as the Ice Cube as part of the Water Cube was renovated in 2019 to allow the hosting of curling events. Architecture In July 2003 the Water Cube design was chosen from 10 proposals in an international architectural competition for the aquatic center project. The Water Cube was specially designed and built by a consortium made up of PTW Architects (an Australian architecture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beijing
} Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 million residents. It has an administrative area of , the third in the country after Guangzhou and Shanghai. It is located in Northern China, and is governed as a municipality under the direct administration of the State Council with 16 urban, suburban, and rural districts.Figures based on 2006 statistics published in 2007 National Statistical Yearbook of China and available online at archive. Retrieved 21 April 2009. Beijing is mostly surrounded by Hebei Province with the exception of neighboring Tianjin to the southeast; together, the three divisions form the Jingjinji megalopolis and the national capital region of China. Beijing is a global city and one of the world's leading centres for culture, diplomacy, politics, finance, busine ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2022 Winter Olympics
The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas with competition in selected events beginning 2 February 2022. It was the 24th edition of the Winter Olympic Games. Beijing was selected as host city in 2015 at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, marking its second time hosting the Olympics, and the last of three consecutive Olympics hosted in East Asia following the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang County, South Korea, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Having previously hosted the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing became the first city to have hosted both the Summer and Winter Olympics. The venues for the Games were concentrated upon Beijing, its suburb Yanqing District, and Zhangjiakou, with some events (including the ceremo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compression (physical)
In mechanics, compression is the application of balanced inward ("pushing") forces to different points on a material or structure, that is, forces with no net sum or torque directed so as to reduce its size in one or more directions.Ferdinand Pierre Beer, Elwood Russell Johnston, John T. DeWolf (1992), "Mechanics of Materials". (Book) McGraw-Hill Professional, It is contrasted with tension or traction, the application of balanced outward ("pulling") forces; and with shearing forces, directed so as to displace layers of the material parallel to each other. The compressive strength of materials and structures is an important engineering consideration. In uniaxial compression, the forces are directed along one direction only, so that they act towards decreasing the object's length along that direction. The compressive forces may also be applied in multiple directions; for example inwards along the edges of a plate or all over the side surface of a cylinder, so as to reduce its ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plateau's Rules
Plateau's laws describe the structure of soap films. These laws were formulated in the 19th century by the Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau from his experimental observations. Many patterns in nature are based on foams obeying these laws. Laws for soap films Plateau's laws describe the shape and configuration of soap films as follows: # Soap films are made of entire (unbroken) smooth surfaces. # The mean curvature of a portion of a soap film is everywhere constant on any point on the same piece of soap film. # Soap films always meet in threes along an edge called a Plateau border, and they do so at an angle of arccos(−) = 120°. # These Plateau borders meet in fours at a vertex, at the tetrahedral angle of arccos(−) ≈ 109.47°. Configurations other than those of Plateau's laws are unstable, and the film will quickly tend to rearrange itself to conform to these laws. That these laws hold for minimal surfaces was proved mathematically by Jean Taylor using geometr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Patterns In Nature
Patterns in nature are visible regularities of form found in the natural world. These patterns recur in different contexts and can sometimes be modelled mathematically. Natural patterns include symmetries, trees, spirals, meanders, waves, foams, tessellations, cracks and stripes. Early Greek philosophers studied pattern, with Plato, Pythagoras and Empedocles attempting to explain order in nature. The modern understanding of visible patterns developed gradually over time. In the 19th century, the Belgian physicist Joseph Plateau examined soap films, leading him to formulate the concept of a minimal surface. The German biologist and artist Ernst Haeckel painted hundreds of marine organisms to emphasise their symmetry. Scottish biologist D'Arcy Thompson pioneered the study of growth patterns in both plants and animals, showing that simple equations could explain spiral growth. In the 20th century, the British mathematician Alan Turing predicted mechanisms of morphogen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weaire–Phelan Structure
In geometry, the Weaire–Phelan structure is a three-dimensional structure representing an idealised foam of equal-sized bubbles, with two different shapes. In 1993, Denis Weaire and Robert Phelan found that this structure was a better solution of the Kelvin problem of tiling space by equal volume cells of minimum surface area than the previous best-known solution, the Kelvin structure. History and the Kelvin problem In two dimensions, the subdivision of the plane into cells of equal area with minimum average perimeter is given by the hexagonal tiling, but although the first record of this honeycomb conjecture goes back to the ancient Roman scholar Marcus Terentius Varro, it was not proven until the work of Thomas C. Hales in 1999. In 1887, Lord Kelvin asked the corresponding question for three-dimensional space: how can space be partitioned into cells of equal volume with the least area of surface between them? Or, in short, what was the most efficient soap bubble foam? This pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vector Foiltec
Vector Foiltec is a business using transparent plastic (ETFE) cushions filled with air as an architectural cladding technology. This solution can be better than glass panels in applications such as roofs over aggressive environments where chemicals would attack a metal window frame, or where the transparent panels have to accommodate deformation due to changing thermal conditions. History The Company was founded by Stefan Lehnert in 1982 in Bremen in Germany. Its first structure was the roof of a small pavilion at Burgers' Zoo in 1982. Operations The Texlon ETFE cladding system developed by the company consists of a number of layers of the UV stable copolymer ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) welded into cushions or foils. The cushions are restrained around their perimeter by aluminium extrusions, which are in turn fastened to a supporting primary structure. The cushions are inflated with air at low pressure to provide insulation and to resist wear caused by wind. A Texlon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cladding (construction)
Cladding is the application of one material over another to provide a skin or layer. In construction, cladding is used to provide a degree of thermal insulation and weather resistance, and to improve the appearance of buildings. Cladding can be made of any of a wide range of materials including wood, metal, brick, vinyl, and composite materials that can include aluminium, wood, blends of cement and recycled polystyrene, wheat/rice straw fibres. Rainscreen cladding is a form of weather cladding designed to protect against the elements, but also offers thermal insulation. The cladding does not itself need to be waterproof, merely a control element: it may serve only to direct water or wind safely away in order to control run-off and prevent its infiltration into the building structure. Cladding may also be a control element for noise, either entering or escaping. Cladding can become a fire risk by design or material. Description Cladding in construction is material applied ov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ETFE
Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) is a fluorine-based plastic. It was designed to have high corrosion resistance and strength over a wide temperature range. ETFE is a polymer and its source-based name is poly(ethene-co-tetrafluoroethene). It is also known under the brand name Tefzel. ETFE has a relatively high melting temperature and excellent chemical, electrical and high-energy radiation resistance properties. When burned, ETFE releases hydrofluoric acid. Properties Useful comparison tables of PTFE against FEP, PFA and ETFE can be found on DuPont's website, listing the mechanical, thermal, chemical, electrical, and vapour properties of each, side by side. ETFE is effectively the high-strength version of the other three in this group, often featuring slightly diminished capacities in other fields by comparison. Combustion of ETFE occurs in the same way as a number of other fluoropolymers, in terms of releasing hydrofluoric acid (HF). HF is extremely corrosive and toxic, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Space Frame
In architecture and structural engineering, a space frame or space structure ( 3D truss) is a rigid, lightweight, truss-like structure constructed from interlocking struts in a geometric pattern. Space frames can be used to span large areas with few interior supports. Like the truss, a space frame is strong because of the inherent rigidity of the triangle; flexing loads (bending moments) are transmitted as tension and compression loads along the length of each strut. History Alexander Graham Bell from 1898 to 1908 developed space frames based on tetrahedral geometry. Bell's interest was primarily in using them to make rigid frames for nautical and aeronautical engineering, with the tetrahedral truss being one of his inventions. Max Mengeringhausen developed the space grid system called MERO (acronym of ''MEngeringhausen ROhrbauweise'') in 1943 in Germany, thus initiating the use of space trusses in architecture. The commonly used method, still in use has individual tubu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beijing National Stadium
The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, project architect Stefan Marbach, artist Ai Weiwei, and CADG, which was led by chief architect Li Xinggang. The stadium was designed for use throughout the 2008 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. It was used again in the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics. The Bird's Nest sometimes has temporary large screens installed at the stands. History Located at the Olympic Green, the stadium cost US$428 million. The design was awarded to a submission from the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron in April 2003 after a bidding process that included 13 final submissions. The design, which originated from the study of Chinese ceramics, implemented steel beams in order to hide supports for the retractable roof; giving the stadium the appearance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Architecture Firm
In the United States, an architectural firm or architecture firm is a business that employs one or more licensed architects and practices the profession of architecture; while in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Denmark and other countries, an architectural firm is a company that offers architectural services. History Architects (or master builders) have existed since early in recorded history. The earliest recorded architects include Imhotep (c. 2600 BCE) and Senemut (c. 1470 BCE). No writings exist to describe how these architects performed their work. However, as nobles it is reasonable to assume they had staffs of assistants and retainers to help refine and implement their work. The oldest surviving book on architecture, ''De architectura'' by the Roman architect Vitruvius describes the design and construction of towns, buildings, clocks, and machines, but provides no information about the organisation of the architect's assistants. It is generally accepted that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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