Created as the first permanent venue for big air events in the world, the 60-metre-high ski jump will host the ski and snowboard big air competitions at the Olympics, which begin this week.
It will be the first time ski big air has been included in the games, following the introduction of snowboard big air at the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang.
The Big Air Shougang venue is located in a former steelworks
Built in the western Shijingshan district of Beijing, the Olympic venue sits within the former Shougang Industrial Park, which was the largest steel mill in the region before it closed in 2011.
The largely steel structure designed by TeamMinus occupies a dramatic location alongside four large cooling towers on a strip of land between a former cooling lake and the Yongding River.
As the 60-metre-long structure was designed to be used for big air events rather than traditional ski jumping, it has a distinctive form.
Supported on a column that contains an elevator for the athletes to reach the top of the jump, the structure has three distinct sections.
It was built as the first permanent venue for big air events in the world. Photo courtesy of Beijing 2022
It has a long slope, followed by a flatter central section where the takeoff ramp is located, and finally a shorter sloped landing area.
At the base of the jump, concrete stands with 2,500 permanent seats have been built around the landing area. The capacity for the Olympics was raised with additional steel stands.
A ramp is located in the middle of the structure
The Big Air Shougang venue forms part of a plan to redevelop the former steelworks, and several other buildings were renovated for the Olympics.
The nearby Oxygen Factory complex will be used as the entrance building for spectators watching the events, while the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee moved its headquarters into a converted iron ore storage towers on the site in 2017.
As part of the wider development of the industrial site, numerous office blocks along with a conference center, waterpark and museum are set to be built.
The ski jumps forms part of a redevelopment of the site
We've selected six opportunities for architectural assistants in the UK available on Dezeen Jobs this week, including positions at Allies and Morrison, Ström Architects and PLP Architecture.
Ström Architects is hiring an architectural assistant to join its team in Hampshire, UK. The firm designed The Quest, a retirement residence in Dorset, UK with a low, rectilinear profile that cantilevers over a subterranean parking space.
Craftworks is seeking Part 2 and Part 3 architects to join its team in London. The studio's projects include The Chapel, a renovation of a derelict chapel capped by a pitched roof punctuated by faceted windows.
Architecture firm Sher Maker has designed a home and music studio in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with a cluster of raised living spaces connected by wooden walkways that enjoy expansive views of its rural surroundings.
Designed for a musician and their family, the two-storey Khiankai Home and Studio draws on the vernacular architecture of the area to foster an "intimate connection" with its natural surroundings.
Khiankai Home and Studio in Thailand was designed by Sher Maker
The home is divided into two contrasting levels that surrounding a central paved courtyard, planted with a large tree that extends up through the building.
On the lower level, a concrete base has been dug into the gently sloping site, providing privacy and acoustic control to the music studio and two bedrooms.
Openings in the facade are clad in translucent panelling
Above, a lightweight timber grid frames a series of bright, independent living and dining spaces, connected by wooden walkways and terraces that overlook the landscape.
"The main body of the house is dispersed along the length of the land, with the main terrace linking every function together," explained the local studio.
"The front side runs along with a small village road, and the back side with the existing trees and a rice field," it continued.
Floor-to-ceiling windows connect the interior to a series of terraces
A series of pitched wooden roofs clad in traditional lanna tiling shelter the living and dining spaces, covering the central walkways but leaving those around the edge of the home open to the elements.
Bifold wooden doors allow the kitchen and dining space to be opened out onto the wooden terrace looking out towards the rice field.
Full-height areas of glazing face in the opposite direction over the village path.
To the west, an independent volume houses the bathroom spaces, raised on concrete pillars and accessed via a short bridge clad in corrugated plastic.
The studio used wood throughout the interior
Due to the sloping site, the first floor of the home can be accessed directly from the road, with a wooden staircase in the central courtyard leading down to the ground floor.
Throughout the interiors, the timber structure of the upper level is complemented by wooden window frames, shelving, fittings and furniture, creating a layering effect when looking through the home.
Sheltered outdoor areas overlook the verdant landscape
"There was an abundant use of wood to create a link between the house and the natural surrounding landscape," said the studio.
"The wood was found and treated... in the local area, and then incorporated into many small elements in the home," it continued.
The home is split across a number of levels and volumes
The Caret lamp reimagines the green-shaded "bankers lamp" that sits in many public libraries and gives it a clean, contemporary form.
The Caret lamp is made of lacquered steel and comes in either dark burgundy or silk grey
Fogale designed it to suit environments that blur the line between work and home and named it after the proofreading mark used to indicate the additional insertion of text.
"I love the idea that this is exactly what this portable lamp is meant to do – to be added to your bookshelf in between your books or sat on a table in between people," Fogale said.
Its form is based on the classic "bankers lamp" often seen in libraries
Caret is made entirely from lacquered steel and comes in dark burgundy or grey silk.
Fogale describes the colours as elegant, and says they will endure the passing of time and trends while complementing both dark and light wood tones.
Available from the end of February, the Caret lamp is one of two products on Dezeen Showroom launched by &Tradition as part of its New for Spring launch. The second is the Margas lounge chair.
Dezeen Showroom offers an affordable space for brands to launch new products and showcase their designers and projects to Dezeen's huge global audience. For more details email showroom@dezeen.com.
Dezeen Showroom is an example of partnership content on Dezeen. Find out more about partnership content here.
Furniture designer Mari Koppanen has resurrected a suede-like material, historically made in parts of central Romania from hoof fungus, to upholster a rotund stool and matching bench.
The Fomes range was designed in homage to its titular fungus, which is also known as fomes fomentarius and grows mushrooms shaped as a horse's hoof. Its wooden legs are made from the same birch trees on which it commonly grows.
These are topped with fluffy wool seats and enveloped by sheets of amadou, a leathery material derived from the fruit of the fungus that craftsmen in the region of Transylvania have been using to fashion alpine-style hats and other accessories since the 1840s.
The Fomes collection includes a stool and bench
By reimagining it for use in contemporary furniture, Koppanen hopes to preserve this dying skill as well as exploring the material as a substitute for animal leather.
"The craft is in danger of disappearing as the number of families practising it has reduced noticeably during the past decades," said Koppanen, who is researching amadou as part of her doctorate at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.
"It is a unique craft and the material could have big potential in the future," she told Dezeen. "Compared to leather, it does not require killing an animal or heavy processes of soaking, tanning and dyeing. The material is fully biodegradable, cruelty-free and natural."
The stool's base and bench's four legs are made from birch wood wrapped in amadou
Koppanen started learning how to work with amadou for her master's project four years ago, spending a week with some of the families who have been practising the craft in the eastern Transylvanian village of Corund since the 19th century.
Although few practitioners remain, she says the tools and techniques are the same as they were almost 200 years ago.
"The knowledge is transferred from mouth to mouth and has been passed from one generation to another," the Finnish designer explained.
Fluffy wool upholstery covers the plump seats
The process starts by using a sharp sickle to peel away the hard, crusty outer layer of the hoof fungus.
This reveals its spongey insides, which are trimmed into shape and carefully stretched and flattened out by hand using small circular motions before being left to dry.
"It looks easy but requires lots of practice and knowledge," Koppanen said. "You will also have to know which fungi to pick by looking at their age, colour and shape. I got my tuition from the experts but I'd definitely need 10 more years to master it."
Amadou is wrapped around the base of the stool and the legs of the bench
Traditionally, pieces of amadou are connected using a glue made from animal bone collagen. But Koppanen has instead opted for a vegan bookbinding glue, sourced from a small shop in her native Helsinki.
The mushroom leather itself has a texture and warm brown colour that is reminiscent of suede, although its fibres are shorter and slightly less durable.
Amadou has long been used as kindling and scraps of the material were found on the mummified remains of Ötzi the Iceman, who died in the Alps more than 5,200 years ago.
But amadou's spongey texture also makes it highly absorbent, with dentists using it to stem bleeding before the advent of medical cotton.
"The material seals the liquid inside itself and has an anti-inflammatory effect," Koppanen said.
"The fruiting body of this fungus can grow for up to 10 years, which is a long time for a mushroom, so it produces antiseptic enzymes to defend itself from different threats such as insects and larvae."
The material has a suede-like finish
Koppanen has used amadou as a substitute for animal leather in a range of contemporary design pieces, including bags and vests.
But large-scale adoption of the material is limited by its supply, and according to the designer should always go hand-in-hand with an appreciation of its history.
The material is made from the flesh of the hoof fungus
"Tinder mushrooms grow widely in Europe and North America but they require quite a specific environment and circumstances to grow the soft and flexible layer needed to make amadou," she said.
"It is a limited resource, not only geographically but also because you have to be a talented handcrafter to know which mushrooms to pick and how to process them," she added.
"I don't believe amadou offers a direct alternative to harmful textile and leather mass production – at least not yet," she added. "But it offers us a great direction to strive for."
The fungus is peeled using a sharp sickle. Photo is by the designer
Mushroom leather has become a buzzword in the fashion industry in recent months, as major brands including Hermès, Stella McCartney and Adidas are experimenting with using the material as an alternative to animal hides.
Rather than relying on a traditional craft process like amadou, these are generally produced in labs by biomaterial companies and make use of the root system of fungi, known as mycelium, rather than their fruits.
