Olympic stadium designer speaks out

One of the Chinese designers behind the Bird’s Nest Olympic stadium today attacked the ‘autocratic rule’ of the Chinese state, in a comment written on The Guardian newspaper’s website.

According to The Guardian, Ai Weiwei says, ‘The “Bird’s Nest” National Stadium, which I helped to conceive, is designed to embody the Olympic spirit of fair competition. It tells people that freedom is possible but needs fairness, courage and strength.

Weiwei says he will not attend the opening ceremony, ‘because I believe the freedom of choice is the basis of fair competition’.

When the Olympics open in Bejing at 1pm BST today, several pavilions featuring important design work will also be unveiled.

George P Johnson has designed pavilions for Lenovo and the Bank of China, while Someone has created the branding for UK pavilion London House.

Lenovo designed the Olympic torch for 2008’s games, and the computing company’s pavilion features a plasma screen detailing the design process for the torch.

The Bank of China pavilion includes an interactive over-sized ATM machine and a virtual badminton game.

London House is positioned in the international diplomatic area, within Ritan Park, while the Lenovo and Bank of China pavilions are located next to the National Stadium.