According to the Beijing municipal Planning Commission (BMPC) and the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (BOCOG), China has invited architects worldwide to put forward their designs for the 100,000-seat Olympic sports stadium, which will be used for the opening and closing ceremonies and track and field.
BMPC deputy director Huang Yan said, “before bidding for the main stadium we firstly need an architectural blueprint. That’s why we hold the contest”.
The stadium will have 80,000 permanent seats and 20,000 temporary ones as well as a retractable roof which follows the goals of being “the high-tech, green and people’s Olympics”.
Liu Zhi, deputy director for BMPC said, “the stadium is supposed to cost about three billion RMB (about $370 million U.S.)”.
The contest will officially start Tuesday as organizers set up a Web site for designers to register and download all the information.
About 10 finalists will be chosen to participate in the second stage but a time has not yet been announced.
Meanwhile, seven stadiums and gymnasiums are inviting bids from all over the world, said BMPC. They include the National Sports Stadium, the National Swimming Center, the Conference Center, the National Gymnasium, the Olympic Village, the Aquatic Olympic Park and the Beijing Predial Racecourse.
Also, a multi-billion-dollar program is underway to build 14 new stadiums and gymnasiums – construction to be completed by the end of 2006.
