Rumbling Sphere
Nanjing,China
Project
Summary
Rumbling Sphere
Nanjing,China

The moment the armillary sphere, 12.7 meters in height and 17 meters in diameter, rose slowly from the ground, the 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing reached the climax of the opening ceremony. The apparatus had a vertical motion range of 19 meters, and the five concentric rings could turn freely after they opened. Within the 100-day time limit, Jiahe and her"special troops"must not just combat quicksand and race against time, but also tackle various problems such as poor infrastructure conditions and minor mistakes in LED data concerning weight. After eight major alterations, more than 400 drafts and numerous coordination meetings, they eventually worked out an outstanding design which replaced the pure elevation system with a multi-ring arbitrary linkage system, reduced steel by over 200 tons and shortened the foundation ditch by approximately 20 meters. This contributed much to the success of the opening ceremony and integrated the oriental and occidental cultures into one piece of work!