The Beijing National Aquatics Center, or Water Cube, was built to house the swimming events of the 2008 Olympics. (Its polymer walls, which reduce energy costs by minimizing the need for lighting and heating, won a PopSci Best of What’s New award in 2006.) The building’s designers intended for it to live on after the Olympics, however, and in August it revealed a new purpose
after a 10-month metamorphosis. The center now houses the Happy Magic Watercube water park, a tangle of state-of-the-art rides such as the Aqua-Loop, a vertically looping waterslide with a unique launch system—the floor drops out from under the rider—and the Body Slide (above). Happy Magic’s $30 entrance fee is about one ninth the average monthly income of local residents, yet it has attracted thousands of visitors every day since it opened.
after a 10-month metamorphosis. The center now houses the Happy Magic Watercube water park, a tangle of state-of-the-art rides such as the Aqua-Loop, a vertically looping waterslide with a unique launch system—the floor drops out from under the rider—and the Body Slide (above). Happy Magic’s $30 entrance fee is about one ninth the average monthly income of local residents, yet it has attracted thousands of visitors every day since it opened.
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment