The Big Air Shougang structure features a curved slope for freestyle skiing and snowboarding in Shougang Industrial Park, which is one of the most unique venues at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. 

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics opened on 4 February, 2022 and will continue in 25 competition and non-competition venues in Beijing, Yanqing, and Zhangjiakou until 20 February, 2022.

Designed by Brian Li Zhang's Beijing-based design office TeamMinus, the Big Air Shougang is situated at a site, which was previously home to the region's largest steel plants, the studio has transformed this gigantic industrial relics into new uses for the Olympic Games.

Reaching at 60-metre-height, the structure was created as the world’s first permanent Big Air venue for long-term use. Located in the Shougang Industrial Park within the Shijingshan District of Beijing, it is positioned on the South-West bank of the Qunming Lake, on the West side of the Cooling Towers, with an altitude of 88 meters above sea level.

The transformation of the Shougang Industrial Park is inspired by the depiction of the Buddhist Apsaras in Dunhuang – female figures comparable to the nymphs of Greek and Roman mythology – the architects designed the Big Air Shougang complex made of elegant curves on the edge of Qunming Lake, formerly used for cooling water, next to the preserved cooling towers of the steel production. 

The depicted flying Apsaras with waving scarfs form an analogy to the elegant flights of the competing athletes, while the industrial remains form a spectacular scenery together with newly designed open spaces, that connect a park landscape with a river close by. 

With this scenery in the background, the location will stay open to the public after the Olympic Games. 

Besides the new freestanding ski jump, TeamMinus renovated a former Oxygen Factory, which is being used directly for the Games and later made available to start-ups along with other structures. 

The transformation of the formerly gigantic steel factory into a park landscape with jobs for a sustainable economy shows the ambitions associated with this project.

Encompassing a total of 5,500 square meters, including the landing area, the design of the slope is vitalized in an elegant way, helping to create this ethereal feeling of flying simply. 

"Because the thin, drapery edge of garments on the flying Apsaras, who would dance through the wind and performs in a beautiful and dynamic shape, is fitting the concept of Big Air athletes, who would perform in their best moment in the air," said TeamMinus. 

Spectators are able to enter through the Front of House via a newly renovated Oxygen Factory complex, it serves the public including an entrance gate for spectators, a central plaza for services.

The main building of Oxygen Factory and the pump station tower were renovated as Services Center and Check-ins. The Vent Tower provides camera spots for OBS. 

As the studio emphasized, these buildings will be maintained for the post-game recreations, open to citizens with an unique industrialized character for the post-Olympics theme park. 

Known one of significant legacies of 2022 Bejing Winter Games, the Shougang Big Air will continue its sporty instinct---still be utilized for competitions and training of Big Air, aiming to promote the development of snow sports domestically, and globally.

Other venues at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics include the National Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron, the National Aquatics Centre by PTW Architects, the National Speed Skating Oval by Populous, the National Sliding Centre by Atelier Li Xinggang.

The Big Air Shougang structure is currently being showcased in an exhibition, titled Urban Ergonomics, at Aedes Architecture Forum, Berlin, Germany. The exhibition runs until 10 March, 2022.

All images © Lu Bei

> via TeamMinus