National Olympic Stadium (Bird’s Nest)

Of all the buildings under construction in preparation for the Olympics, the most striking is the new headquarters of China Central Television. Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, it is a gravity-defying loop of horizontal and vertical sections. When completed it’s likely to become one of the world’s most recognizable icons.

National Aquatics Center/Water Cube

Inspired by the formation of bubbles and molecules, the Water Cube is a complex of five pools. Now that the Games are over, it will lose two-thirds of its seats to make room for a multipurpose leisure center that will include an artificial beach and water slides.

National Indoor Stadium

Built to host gymnastics and handball during the 2008 Games, this stadium boasts a sinuously curving roof with slatted beams, which is inspired by traditional Chinese folding fans. Post-Olympics, the stadium will stage entertainment events such as concerts.

Olympic Green

The Olympic Green surrounds the Olympic Village and extends beyond the fifth ring road, covering a total of 1,680 acres (680 hectares). At its heart is a dragon-shaped lake, as well as waterfalls, meadows, and streams. The park is slated for public use by 2009.

Olympic Green Convention Center

This building hosted the fencing events during the 2008 Games, as well as providing a home for the International Broadcasting Center. Its distinctive shape mirrors the traditional Chinese “flying roof” and acts as a giant rainwater collector. It is due to open as a conference venue in July 2009.

Digital Beijing Building

Designed by Beijing-based Studio Pei Zhu, Digital Beijing served as the Games’ Control and Data Center. It resembles a bar code from one side and an integrated circuit board from the other. Post-Games, it will accommodate a virtual museum and an exhibition center.

Beijing Airport, Terminal 3

The world’s largest and most advanced airport building, Lord Norman Foster’s new Terminal 3 welcomed athletes from around the world to the 2008 Olympics. The design resembles a soaring dragon in red and yellow, thus evoking traditional Chinese colors and symbols.

National Grand Theater (National Center for the Performing Arts)

French architect Paul Andreu’s silvery “Egg” (see National Grand Theater) provides a striking contrast to the monolithic, slab-like Socialist architecture of neighboring Tian’an Men Square. The building is surrounded by a reflective moat and accessed by an underwater tunnel. At night, a part of the facade is transparent, so passers-by can see what’s going on inside.

CCTV Building

The most striking addition to the Beijing skyline is the new headquarters of China Central Television. Designed by Dutch architects Rem Koolhaas and Ole van Scheeren, it is a gravity-defying loop that pushes the limits of architecture and reinvents the organization of spaces. When completed, in 2009, it’s sure to become one of the world’s most recognizable buildings.

Television Cultural Center (TVCC)

The most striking addition to the Beijing skyline is the new headquarters of China Central Television. Designed by Dutch architects Rem Koolhaas and Ole van Scheeren, it is a gravity-defying loop that pushes the limits of architecture and reinvents the organization of spaces. When completed, in 2009, it’s sure to become one of the world’s most recognizable buildings.

Agricultural Exhibition Center

In 1959 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, this was one of ten “key” buildings commissioned in “modern” Chinese style.

Great Hall of the People

Over 300 rooms large, yet built in only 10 months.

China National Museum

Every bit as brutal and ugly as the Great Hall, which it faces across the square.

Beijing Railway Station

Prime illustration of 1959’s prevailing “size is everything” approach to architecture.

Cultural Palace of the Nationalities

The one “tenth anniversary” building of elegance. Its plan forms the Chinese character for “mountain.”

Minzu Hotel

No Chinese motifs – but suitably monolithic and drab.

Chinese Military History Museum

Owes a striking debt to Moscow.

Natural History Museum

Neo-Classical Socialist Chinese – but nice inside.

National Art Museum of China

The largest art gallery in China.

Beijing West Railway Station

1995 update on 1959-style architecture.