STORY: A Shared Path | Golden bowl-shaped stadium witnesses World Cup fervor
DATELINE: Oct. 18, 2023
LENGTH: 00:05:09
LOCATION: Beijing
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

STORYLINE:

Qatar

Qatar is known as the "pearl in the Persian Gulf."
In the winter of 2022, a football World Cup held here ignited passion across the world.

Lusail Stadium, Qatar

This is the main stadium of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
The Lusail Stadium is the world's largest membrane-structure building, which can accommodate 90,000 people.
Its construction required enough steel to build three Eiffel Towers.
As a project under the Belt and Road Initiative, the stadium was contracted by a Chinese company. More than 110 subcontractors from 20 countries participated in its construction.

Unity is strength.
-- Arabic proverb

Leonidas Tzevelekas, a Greek national, works for a company involved in the construction of the Lusail Stadium.

As a Building Information Modeling (BIM) manager, the 40-year-old needed to work out solutions for the mega-project using BIM technology.

The delicate curtain wall is a highlight of the golden bowl-shaped stadium.
But installing it was anything but easy for Tzevelekas' team.

The wall is made of triangular aluminum plates carved with more than 4,200 simulated enamel lantern patterns. The plates were made using 3D laser scanning technology and BIM solutions.
   
SOUNDBITE (English): LEONIDAS TZEVELEKAS, BIM manager, Lusail Stadium project, China Railway Construction Corporation
"The facade's principal supporting structure is provided by the alternates of A- and V-shaped trusses that span beyond 60 meters and curved and leaned towards the facade's bowl-shaped structure."
   
The essence of BIM technology is to build a virtual construction model and use it to guide construction and operations.

SOUNDBITE (English): BIMAN DEY SARKAR, Engineer from India
"This kind of projects are having more than 100 subcontractors with maybe more than 30 disciplines."
   
While building the project, the international architectural team also built a bridge of friendship.

SOUNDBITE (English): LEONIDAS TZEVELEKAS, BIM manager, Lusail Stadium
"We have been developing bonds and interpersonal relations. A representative, an example amongst many, is a gift that my friend Mustafa offered me. This is actually a chocolate box from Belgium, one of the trips that he underwent, having engraved my name on it."
   
SOUNDBITE (English): OLIVIA JOYCE, Philippine worker
"The one that I cherish the most is that I have a Chinese colleague who teaches me how to write Chinese calligraphy. I felt so magical and amazed. We enjoy every part of the project that we construct."

Thanks to close cooperation of constructors from various countries, the project was completed on time, with many records broken.

The world's largest and most complex
cable-membrane structure system of its kind

One of the largest coordinated BIM models

The Lusail Stadium was also featured on Qatari Riyal banknotes introduced in 2020, and became a new landmark.

SOUNDBITE (English): HASSAN AL THAWADI, Chairman, 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar
"The Lusail (Stadium) is the one that will host the final. It's our biggest stadium and I think for anybody that visits it, especially from China, they can come and appreciate Chinese engineering."
   
SOUNDBITE (English): LEONIDAS TZEVELEKAS, BIM manager, Lusail Stadium
"Since this long-lasting project required too much effort from ourselves, the teams, from everyone, to make this happen, so definitely, we have the feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment."

Outside the stadium was a one-kilometer-long wall, displaying photos of the smiling faces of the more than 7,000 people who participated in the construction.

SOUNDBITE (English): LEONIDAS TZEVELEKAS, BIM manager, Lusail Stadium
"Aria, are you there?"
"Yes."
"Do you want to see my face on the wall, we have a beautiful wall here."
"Yes."
　　　
"My name is Johnny Sicatin. I'm a civil engineer from the Philippines."
"My name is Muhammad Saif Ejaz. I'm a civil engineer from Pakistan."
"My name is Husam Qaruti. I'm a civil engineer from Jordan."
"My name is Huang Taorui. I'm the deputy project manager of China Railway Construction Corporation. I'm from China."
"My name is Sam. I'm in charge of quality control of the project. I'm from India."
"My name is Leonidas Tzevelekas. I'm a BIM project manager from Greece."

As an architectural wonder built under the Belt and Road Initiative, the Lusail Stadium manifests the power of cooperation, transcending race, culture and language to create a better future for everyone.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Beijing.
(XHTV)