The Beijing Winter Olympic Village in Haidian district, Beijing. Photo: Zhao Juecheng/GT

The garden design in the Beijing Winter Olympic Village Photo: Sina Weibo

With the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games nearly less than 100 days away, the Beijing Winter Olympic Village recently revealed its abundant facilities as well as the unique design details that took inspiration from traditional Chinese art.

The design goal for the Olympic village was to create a space with a Chinese style. One highlight that reflects this goal is a courtyard garden that separates the buildings in the village which was designed based on the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) painting Ice Play at the Palace Museum. 

The garden looks like an infinity symbol, which reflects the meaning of the original painting which depicts people playing sports on a frozen lake. The garden is surrounded by a pavement walkway, while the center is grass and trees with benches to sit on. 

"Playing on the ice has long been a much celebrated pastime practiced by select talents, mostly royals, dating back to the Qing Dynasty. The painting itself is a court painting that records this scene and the theme of the painting goes well with the Winter Games," Han Fengzhe, a folk culture expert, told the Global Times.

"Looking at the painting, you can see vividly depicted human figures… ice sports were already diversified in old times in China; some of them have acrobatic elements," Han added. 

The colors of the village's buildings also reflect Chinese aesthetics. The reception center has retro red brick walls and silver steel structures, showing a traditional industrial style with a touch of the burgundy red that is often seen in ancient Chinese buildings such as the Forbidden City. 

Also the 20 residential buildings have silver and orange fa?ades that match with the surrounded red and yellow leaves of the maple trees to give the icy winter ambience more warmth and deliver a sense of home to the athletes that will live there. 

Inside the residential buildings are four types of suites ranging from 135 to 220 square meters in size. The design of the rooms, which come with standard furniture such as a bed and wardrobe, have many considerate details, such as accessible restrooms and curtains controlled by remote that were particularly designed for the convenience of Paralympic athletes. 

The Beijing village covers a total floor area of 330,000 square meters and consists of 20 residential buildings. There will be two other villages at the competition venues in Yanqing county, Beijing and Zhangjiakou in North China's Hebei Province. 

Such villages are for both Olympic and Paralympic athletes. The Beijing one is set to officially open on January 27, 2022 to provide accommodations, catering and medical services for athletes and their teams from different countries. 

Memory mattress, data sensors and height adjustment - Zhangjiakou Winter Olympic Village has prepared smart beds for the fittest people in the world at Beijing 2022. Photo: Web