Inspired or dystopian, Beijing's Big Air venue sparks social media debate

BEIJING: One of the Beijing Winter Olympics venues, Big Air Shougang, generated buzz on social media on Monday (Feb 7) for its industrial look created by being built at the site of a former steel mill.

The venue in western Beijing, which is essentially one gigantic ski ramp in the middle of a repurposed industrial park, came into focus as it hosted its first day of Olympic competition with the women's and men's freeski Big Air qualifying events.

Some viewers, accustomed to seeing snow-capped mountains and forests, were taken aback by the site of cooling towers.

"Feels pretty dystopian to have some kind of nuclear facility as the backdrop for this Big Air skiing event," tweeted LindsayMpls.

Others joked that the venue brought back memories of Homer Simpson's workplace in Fox's classic animated sitcom, The Simpsons.

"The Big Air stadium at the Olympics seems to be right next to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant," tweeted jlove1982, referring to the fictional city in The Simpsons.

The Shougang industrial park site, was chosen to represent sustainability by turning an industrial area into one for cultural and leisure use, officials have said.

Some viewers and athletes, including Team China's American-born freestyle skiing gold medal hope Eileen Gu, were impressed.

"The venue is fantastic," Gu said. "I mean, look around, there's no snow anywhere else. And somehow when you're skiing on this job, you're feel like you're on a glacier somewhere."

Big Air features athletes sliding down a large ramp and performing various gravity-defying tricks and twists.

It is a relatively new event that is popular with athletes and sponsors alike in part because the venue can be temporarily constructed so that events can be held at fun, urban locations