Water Cube design history Architects PTW and engineering group Ove Arup, both based in Sydney, designed

the Water Cube in partnership with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and the CSCEC Shenzhen Design Institute (CSCEC+DESIGN). As well as providing a multifunctional aquatics centre, the brief required extensive use of digital technology, energy-reduction and water-saving methods, as well as the incorporation of new construction materials. With proposals from ten countries, including China, the US, Japan, the UK and Germany, three designs were shortlisted for the design competition. These were submitted by Chinese architects, Shanghai Xian Dai Architectural Design, Rafael Vinoly Architects from the US and the subsequent collaborative Chinese-Australian winning design. The winning Water Cube, the focal point of the swimming centre grounds, measures 176m on each side, rising to a height of 31m. It holds 6,000 permanent seats with capacity for an additional 11,000 temporary seats to accommodate Olympic Games spectators. Design details The Ove Arup / PTW design plays on the geometry of water bubbles within a square form. The structure's shape is specifically designed to work in harmony with the circular main Olympic stadium by the Swiss architectural team of Herzog & de Meuron Architekten with China Architecture Design and Research Group and Arup Sport London, known as the "Bird's Nest", giving the area a visual "yin and yang" balance. The square form was also used in acknowledgement of its significance in Chinese culture, architecture and town planning. There are two parts to the Water Cube's structural framework internal and external. The external structure forms the actual roof, ceiling and walls and comprises a flat web of rectangular boxed sections. These sections are then clad with the inflatable material transparent "teflon" material known as ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE). The internal steel frame is based on the unique geometry of biological cells or soap bubbles. Ove Arup and PTW based this "soap bubbles" structural concept on a solution from two Irish professors of physics at Trinity College, Dublin, known as the Weaire-Phelan structure, whereby a recurring pattern of

polyhedrons is packed together to occupy a three dimensional space in the most efficient way possible. Over 22,000 stainless steel members form the sides of these "bubbles", which are welded at the joints to more than 12,000 spherical steel nodes. The benefit of this frame design, as well as resembling water bubbles, is that it is ideally suited to the seismic conditions found in Beijing. "The Water Cube has more than 4,000 bubbles, the largest of which is 9m in diameter."

The Imperativeness of Symbolism in an Age of Computed Efficiency An Essay on the Beijing National Aquatics Center (the Water Cube) by PTW Architects The exclusion of symbolism in architectural discourse established by the Modern Movement is responsible for the long-standing disconnection of architecture from its contextual culture. Robert Venturi, through his writings in the late 1970s as well as his proposed decorated shed typology, has been the key figure advocating the reinstatement of symbolism in the definition of architecture. During the past twenty years, the most exemplary evolution of the decorated shed has been the work of Herzog and de Meuron; their highly articulated facades have reached a level of sophistication Jeffery Kipnis acutely describes as not ornamental, but cosmetic. Yet recent years have witnessed a further evolution of the decorated shed exemplified by projects such as the Beijing National Aquatics Center (also known as the Water Cube), built for the 2008 Olympics by PTW Architects. Through the development construction methods utilizing computer genetic algorithms, ETFE plastic and digital fabrication, the Water Cube achieves a level of symbolic legibility as well as architectural integrity superior to even the cosmetic techniques of Herzog and de Meuron. Thus, the Water Cube is a milestone in the history of symbolic architecture that brings to light the limits and potentials of parametric design, digital fabrication and the decorated shed typology in the progression towards a Symbolic Architecture of Complexity. From Decorated Shed to Cosmetic to Parametric In the late 1970s, Venturis decorated shed proposed the reintegration of symbolism in architecture. Its strategy, physically separating symbol from program and structure, was a practical and economical solution that reflected both its eras conventional construction methods (embodied in the generic

building) as well as its dominant forms of graphic symbolic communication (the billboard). The major evolution of the decorated shed typology occurred in tandem with the advancement of construction techniques in the 1990s. While maintaining the strict divide between exterior symbol from the interior program and structure, a new breed of decorated sheds emerged, utilizing new materials and building methods to combine the billboard and the building envelope into one single element - a highly articulated faade. Jeffery Kipnis essay The Cunning of Cosmetics, through the analysis Herzog and De Meurons architecture, describes this transition from the applied to the integrated as the shift from the ornamental to the cosmetic: Where ornaments retain their identity as entities, cosmetics work as fields, as blush or shadow or highlight, as aura or air. Thinness, adherence and diffuse extent are crucial to the cosmetic effect, which is more visceral than intellectual, more atmospheric than aesthetic. (Kipnis 8) The Library of the Eberswalde Technical School and the Signal Box in Basel, both designed by Herzog and de Meuron, illustrate two strategies of the cosmetic applied to the typology of the decorated shed. In the Eberswalde Library, the rectilinear faade is divided into an evenly distributed grid; each concrete or glass panel in the system is embedded with a silk-screen photographic image. The billboard thus ceases to be an entity in itself but is infused into the building envelope as a cosmetic field. The Signal Box achieves its cosmetic effect through a system of twisting copper bands that wrap the waterproof enclosure. In this case, the symbolic medium, which retains its status as a separate entity, alludes to Faraday cages and inter-urban infrastructures through its shape and material. These two projects exemplify two strategies of the cosmetic: the graphic strategy demonstrated by the silk-screen and the sculptural strategy illustrated by the copper banding. While Venturis decorated shed uses symbols denoting commercial culture, the symbols on the facades of the Eberswalde Library and Signal Box are expressions of the function and program within the building. This shift in the employment of symbols from disguising the building as something which it is not to articulating what the building actually is is a significant step towards a symbolic architecture of greater integrity. The Water Cube exemplifies the next evolution the decorated shed. Like the Library and the Signal Box, the ETFE soap bubbles shaped faade panels allude to the program that it houses the water of the swimming pool. This faade system simultaneously employs both graphic and sculptural cosmetic strategies. While its aluminum mullions create a striking two-dimensional graphic, the curvature and translucency of the plastic panels produce a three dimensional sculptural effect. By being simultaneously graphic and sculpture, the Water

Cube facade achieves a symbolic legibility which exceeds both Herzog and de Meurons architecture of cosmetics as well as Venturis original decorated shed. This evolution is directly in tied to advancements in building technology. The first soap-bubble structure was discovered by Lord Kelvin in 1887; the WeairePhelan structure of the Water Cube Faade (which improved the efficiency of the Kelvins model by 0.3 percent) was developed in 1993. Thus, this fundamental mathematical formula has been documented for over a century the missing link between this math model and architecture has been but the digital device facilitating the translation of geometrical information to the fabrication machine. As Ludger Hoverstadt describes in his article Technical Reconstruction of Architecture in the Information Age, parametric software and digital fabrication as liberators of architecture from the constraints of the grid. In both the Signal Box and the Eberswalde Library, the organizational framework of the rectilinear grid can be clearly read in the symbolic elements. The bubbles of the Water Cube, however, aside from the limits of the square box, are geometrically independent from the internal structural grid. This exemplifies the potential of symbols, released from the confines of the applied billboard and the cosmetic field, to become the defining force shaping the building structure and material. Digital technologies therefore, as Hoverstadt describes, can potentially be powerful tools of expression : Our buildings are drawn with the same technical apparatus, photo-realistic rendered or produced with computercontrolled machines printed in a sense. Between virtual and reality, therefore, there is no longer any technical, structural difference. That is why one speaks of the post-digital age. (Hoverstadt 1438). Machines and Human Intuition When given the equation and the constraining parameters (the height, width, depth of the faade), genetic algorithms which generate the Wearie-Phelan structure are able not only produce an infinite number of structural configurations but can also be programmed to identify the ones with the greatest efficiency. In the article Methods and Tools in Digital Structural Planning, Klaus Bolliger, Manfred Grohmann and Oliver Tessmann writes that the emergence of computational tools is demanding the redefinition of the architects role - as a selector of criteria: Today, we are in a position to create a whole population of load-bearing structures. A decisive factor for the success of such strategy is defining the correct selection criteria for determining the best individual in a population of this kind. The selection is the sole control mechanism. (Bollinger, Manfred and Tessmann, 1486) The Water Cube confirms this pronounced role of the architect as a selector of systems. In its design process, the architects first decided to employ a symbolic representation of water on its faade; this then prompted the application of the

Wearie-Phelan structure. Subsequent formal decisions, (for example, the number and shape of the panels, the size and profile of mullions), were determined largely by engineers whose purpose was to achieving maximum structural, electrical and mechanical efficiency. According to Bolliger, Grohmann and Tessmann, even the choice of structural system can be determined by the computer, Every improved (structural) individual is based on the genetic information of previous generations and has undergone a process of adaptation. In processes of this kind, we see parallels to the design methods of the master builders in history, whose building and structures were based on experience, observation and an ongoing development of constructional reality. (Bollinger, Manfred and Tessmann 1486) The new digital tools, which have the ability to generate infinite variations, selfevaluate these generated data and translate this information fabrication machines bring to light the capacity of machines to dictate the form of buildings. But as Greg Lynn describes in Animate Form, it is not computers but people that create architecture, The genetic, or rule-based, phenomenon of computation should not be discounted. Yet at the same time, genetic processes should not be equated with either intelligence or nature. The computer is not a brain. Machine intelligence might best be described as that of mindless connections. (Lynn 19) In an age where the computer can propose the most efficient structural and mechanical systems for every scenario (as well the most efficient programmatic layout through statistical analysis of people movement), the redefinition architects role is imperative. The architect must do what the machine cannot understand and create culture. Fortunately, as Greg Lynn suggests, it is impossible to program human intuition, the failures of artificial intelligence suggest a need to develop a systematic human intuition about the connective medium, rather than attempting to build criticality into the machine. (Lynn 19) The fact that the Beijing National Aquatic Center has been coined Water Cube and not The Wearie-Phelan Structure proves that the memorability of the building lies not in its highly efficient engineering, but in its symbolism. In this digital age, this project reminds us that the survival of architecture hinges upon the reinstatement of symbolism in its basic definition. Shedding the Decorated Shed The Water Cube, though extremely successful in the integration of functionality and symbolism through the utilization of computational and fabrication technology, remains still a decorated shed in its lack of consideration for the symbolic and spatial quality of its interior spaces. This may be justified using the same arguments of the original decorated shed the interior must be practical and economical to facilitate the expression and cost of the billboard

faade. However, as exemplified by Water Cubes ETFE skin, expression does not necessarily equal to the compromising of function. The problem of the Water Cubes interior is that it shows no evidence of the desire to express. For instance, the plastic multi-colored spectator seating, if transparent, would transform the stands into yet another field of bubbles. The bulky white tubular handrails, if instead were a thin cable system might be reminiscent of nautical lines. The generic concrete diving platform could have been subtly sculpted to resemble an elegant coastal cliff. As the cost to integrate these allusions, in the grand scheme of the project, is so marginal, it becomes clear that the absence of symbolism in this culturally significant interior is the result of simply the lack of attention. Thus, the Water Cube exemplifies the problem of the decorated shed, which by definition locates the symbolic medium on the faade and abandons the interior to pragmatic banalities. In a true architecture of symbolic complexity, cultural meaning cannot be limited to the exterior of the building, but must permeate all aspects of the project. Ben van Berkel takes this concept further, advocating the use of parametric tools to create diverse and meaningful spatial experiences, A parametric model means that youre not only able to define the position of various points in space, but also the relationship between them. The revolutionary aspect of this paradigm shift in design lies in considering how we can conceive spatial qualities in a new way. Its a question of how a building responds to peoples movements. (Berkel 1430) This vision of architecture which through the use of genetic computation and digital fabrication, can achieve the same unity between symbol and function of the Water Cube faade in the spatial, volumetric, programmatic and aesthetic aspects of the building interior, embodies the essence of a Symbolic Architecture of Complexity. Epilogue The Water Cube brings to light the opportunity for architecture to overcome the overly rational dogmas of the Modern Movement and reengage with the longstanding Vetruvian definition of architecture the balanced interplay of structure, program and form. It reveals the potential for new technology to serve as incredible tools of expression as well as its potential to enslave us within its limits of relentless mindless procedure. In this era, where maximum efficiency is a tangible solvable equation, it is imperative for the architect to invert the Modernist methodology of form follows function, to take control of her tools and be guided by that which can never be replaced by machines, toward the creation of a Complex Symbolic Architecture of human-ness, culture and meaning.

Works Cited Kipnis, Jeffery. "The Cunning of Cosmetics." Du 5 no.706 (May 2000): 6-9 Hoverstadt, Ludger. The Technical Reconstruction of Architecture in the Information Age. Detail (Dec 2007): 1436-8. Bollinger, Klaus, Manfred Grohmann and Oliver Tessmann. Methods and Tools Used in Digital Structural Planning. Detail (Dec 2007): 1486-7. Gesprach, Ein and Ben van Berkel. Digital Sustainability and Spaces that Follow You. Detail (Dec 2007): 1424-31. Lynn, Greg. Animate Form New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 1999.

The conceptual design for the National Aquatics Center was finalized as Plan B04. Results of expert appraisal, technical feasibility study and votes by the public prove that the B04 Plan is relatively outstanding and feasible. Through negotiations between the Beijing State-owned Asset Management Co Ltd and the design consortium and approved by the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee and Beijing Municipal Government, the design, name "Water Cube", was picked from shortlist of three designs. The winning plan, which was designed by the China State Construction Engineering Corporation jointly with Australia's PTW Architects and Ove Arup Pty Ltd, embodies the notion of "Cube of Water'. Besides, it integrates architect design into structural design and is in tune with the National Stadium. Moreover, the design fully meets the requirements for events of the 2008 Olympic Games and is adaptable to after-game operation. The deal for the venue was officially signed on the morning of July 29 between the Beijing State-owned Asset Management Co Ltd, which owns the center's rights, and the designers. This is the first venue among the sports centers for the 2008 Olympics to have officially signed a design contract. At the signing ceremony the Beijing State-owned Asset Management Co Ltd noted that the National Aquatics Center is a landmark building for the 2008 Olympic Games, whose design and construction will naturally catch the world's attention.