10 of the Biggest, Boldest Builds of 2012

The home base of the 2012 Summer Olympics managed to be big and bold but minimalist at the same time. The oval-shaped centerpiece of the new Olympic Park seated 80,000 for the Olympics, but used just 10,000 tons of steel?the Bird's Nest in Beijing featured 42,000 tons. The final result of the architects' materials-cutting was a stadium 75 percent lighter than it would have been if designers had gone with a full-concrete version. Today crews are retracting the stadium even more, pulling away the fabric roof and Lego-like steel supports to create a final-use stadium that seats just 25,000. It won't be as spectacular as the Olympic guise. But, hey, it's better than letting Olympic venues fall into disrepair.

Source: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/engineering/architecture/10-of-the-biggest-boldest-builds-of-2012?src=rss

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