From MovingCities.org, by Bert de Muynck:
In August, 31 stadiums and sport halls–both new and renovated–will form the backdrop to the Beijing Olympics. They’re not all spectacular, but they are all important contributions to a developing city.
When the Olympic Games start on 8 August, the ‘Bird’s Nest’ and the ‘Water Cube’ will no doubt be the centres of attention. It could almost make you forget that the majority of the athletes will not compete in these two stadiums. Beijing’s Olympic infrastructure consists of 31 venues that in their design, and re-design, aspire to carry out the threefold motto of ‘Green Olympics’, ‘High-Tech Olympics’ and ‘People’s Olympics’. Their focus on post-Olympic urban life is also important. With a lotus-like stadium, a flying saucer and a Swiss TV set turned into a Chinese bamboo box, some designs infuse an Olympic Order into the capital’s construction chaos of the past decade.