Industrial site turned into cradle of Olympic champions

China's Su Yiming claimed a historic gold medal in the Beijing 2022 men's snowboard big air with a combined score of 182.50 points at Big Air Shougang on February 15. 

Su Yiming shows off at Big Air Shougang on February 15.

Earlier, Gu Ailing with the Chinese team also won the title in the women's freeski big air of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at the same Shougang site.

As the young champions stood out at the ongoing winter Olympics, the skiing site of the former Shougang steel-iron factory in Beijing has also been put under international spotlight.

While Gu Ailing and Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, spoke highly of the environment-friendly Shougang venue, the American investor Marc Andreessen said the site made him “mad” because the nearby cooling towers reminded him of “nuclear reactors.”

Not everyone buys such fake news or nonsense, however. Aaron Betsky, director of Virginia Tech School of Architecture and Design, visited the sited in person and has a different idea.

“The Shougang Olympics site, which I visited right before the pandemic closed access, is a prime example of reuse elegance,” said Aaron Betsky in a dezeen.com article on February 16.

“The once steel mill is now filled with hotels that let you admire the remnants of industrial might and parks that let you saunter past old cooling ponds that are now habitats for ducks and geese.”

Historic industrial site brought back to life

The ski jumping platform of 2022 Winter Olympics is located in the Shougang(capital steel and iron) Industrial Park in Beijing. 103 years ago, Shougang's predecessor the Shijingshan refinery was born here.

 

Shougang No.2 blast furnace (BF) was put into operation with new technology On May 18, 1991. (Photo/Shougang News Center) 

At the beginning of the People's Republic of China, industrial activities were scarce , and Shougang undertook a number of scientific and innovation tasks, poneering the contry's early industrialization.

In the 21st century, Beijing's urban area has a new positioning, and factories and heavy industries are expected to move out of the city to cut pollutants.

On July 13, 2001, Beijing was announced as host city of the 29th Summer Olympic Games, and Shougang ushered in its first opportunity to restructure. In June 2005, the No.5 BF of Shougang was put out of service for green and sustainable Olympic Games. Five years later, Shougang’s capacity was completely moved out of Beijing.

With the relocation of Shougang, an 8.63-square-kilometer development zone came into being. The renovation plans were later discussed under the ideas of darning city, sponge city and urban renewal.

On July 31, 2015, the International Olympic Committee announced that Beijing would be the host of the 2022 Winter Olympics. The former Shougang site ushered in another opportunity of development, chosen to be one of the venues of Beijing Winter Olympics.

  

Norway's Birk Ruud wins the men's freeski big air in the event's Winter Olympics debut on Feb 09 with a score of 187.75.

In May, 2016, the Organizing Committee of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics settled in a storage house of the steel factory, the Shougang renovation project was accelerated.

"Facilities for iron making, oxygen and nitrogen making, power transformation, cooling, as well as offices, staff quarters and cinemas witnessed the times and were thus kept as much as they had been,” said Bo Hongtao, chief designer and architect of the Shougang renovation project in his article.

At present, the renovated north Shougang area is highlighted by the winter Olympic square, the No.3 blast furnace museum, the winter sports training center, and the big air Shougang near the cooling towers.

Through careful preservation and prudent renovation, the Shougang site has been brought back to life, carrying its history with a new look. The Big Air Shougang Olympic facility will be the first big air to be used for long.

One of the greatest legacies left by the Beijing Winter Olympics is to promote the revival of Shougang Industrial Park, according to an article on the official website of the International Olympic Committee.

 

Night view of the Big Air Shougang in Beijing on December 14, 2019 (Xia Yifang/Xinhua)

Source: Energy Observer; Trans-editing by Wang Shixue