Guest Blogger: An Architecture Lesson From a Coke Commercial

Gretchen Schneider

I’m going to take a different tack this week, switching from the everyday built environment to the spectacular: Did you watch the Olympics’ Opening Ceremonies? Did you see the Coke commercial? undefinedundefined
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During the new Chinese National Stadium’s very own debutante ball, Coca-Cola’s ad featured animated birds constructing their nest overlooking the stadium — which of course is known as the Bird’s Nest.undefinedIn case you missed it, here it is again:

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It’s a Coke commercial! About a work of architecture! That happens even more infrequently than the Olympic Games.
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And it’s not even like this building has been around and beloved for generations — the commercial was aired during the stadium’s opening. The Bird’s Nest seems perfectly tuned to serve simultaneously as an abstract sculptural composition, a forward-looking statement, and a unique and recognizable icon for a nation desperately trying to rebrand itself.
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Colleges and universities use architecture to brand themselves all the time. But in the case of the Bird’s Nest, it’s done without a clock tower or super-sized pagoda or any other quasi-historicist wrapping. Admittedly, a structure like this would not be appropriate as one of the “fabric” buildings of our campuses. But as a stand-alone icon, the Bird’s Nest offers fantastic food for thought.
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Committees charged with selecting architects should also note that the Bird’s Nest was designed by novices.
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Well, OK, not exactly — the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron can hardly be called novices. But when then won this project, in 2002, they had never completed a major stadium. (In 2005, they completed a football stadium in Munich). They had designed art galleries, a winery, and a railroad switching station, and for the Bird’s Nest they collaborated with some of the world’s best engineers, at Arup. But as lead architects they had never completed a stadium.undefinedThese guys are not HOK Sport.
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Having served on selection committees in the faculty part of my life, and having written proposals for up-and-coming architecture firms in the practice side of my life, it seems to me that too often selection committees put too much emphasis on the lead architects’ having completed 7 or 17 or 77 buildings of the type the university is seeking.undefinedThe Bird’s Nest offers a stunning example of what might come from a more open-minded discussion. —Gretchen Schneider

Gretchen Schneider, August’s Buildings & Grounds guest blogger, taught architecture at Smith College before opening her own practice in Boston. You can read her previous post here.