Completed in 2008 for the Beijing Summer Olympics, the National Stadium is known around the world as the Bird's Nest. It was designed by the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, with the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei as artistic consultant, and holds 80,000 spectators.
Its outer shell is a lattice of steel beams that seem to weave over and under one another, like twigs in a nest. The idea grew from a study of Chinese ceramics, and the beams were first meant to hide the supports of a retractable roof. The roof was later dropped from the design, but the interlaced steel remained and became its most recognizable feature.
The stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Games, and it was used again for the 2022 Winter Olympics. It stands on the Olympic Green in northern Beijing.
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