Tietgenkollegiet (English: Tietgen Student Hall), named for Danish financier C. F. Tietgen (1829-1891), is a student residence built in new district Ørestad close to the centre of Copenhagen.

The building has a conspicuous circular shape, inspired by traditional southern Chinese Hakka architecture^[1], and is designed by Danish architects Lundgaard & Tranberg in 2006. The design has won it a RIBA European Award.

Architecture

The round building has seven stories. Five vertical lines divide the building both visually and functionally into sections and also serve as continuous passages that provide access from outside to the central courtyard and to the different stories. The ground floor has common facilities: a café, auditorium, study and computer rooms, workshops, laundry, music and meeting rooms, and bicycle parking. The apartments are located on the other stories, 12 in each segment. All rooms face the façade and have a view of the surroundings. The common kitchens/auxiliary rooms, lounges, and terraces are located on the central court, bringing residents together.

Its concept focuses on how the accommodation can help encourage the personal and social development of the students. The courtyard, around which all common areas are located, reinforces the idea of community. It also enables the often monotonous student corridor to become not only spatially interesting but unending, linking all student ‘houses’ on each floor

Rooms

There are 360 rooms, 10% of which have been designated for international exchange students. The building is circular, with 6 floors and rooms set up in blocks of 12. Each room has its own washroom and there are four sizes to the rooms: 26 sq. metres, 29 sq. metres, 33 sq. metres, and 42 sq. metres, approximately. Each block has shared kitchen and living room, with each living room having a unique set of furniture and other items.

More info here

you can view more photos here

A lot of graphic design elements are needed to promote such an event, the most viewed probably being the logo, mascots and pictograms.

Graphic designers create “pictograms” (left) to represent different Olympic sports based on jingwen (right), the script found on 2,000-year-old bronze carvings.

The Beijing Olympics logo

The Beijing Olympics pictograms

The Beijing Olympics mascots

Like the Five Olympic Rings from which they draw their color and inspiration, Fuwa will serve as the Official Mascots of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, carrying a message of friendship and peace — and good wishes from China — to children all over the world.Designed to express the playful qualities of five little children who form an intimate circle of friends, Fuwa also embody the natural characteristics of four of China’s most popular animals — the Fish, the Panda, the Tibetan Antelope, the Swallow — and the Olympic Flame.

Each of Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name — a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei is the Fish, Jingjing is the Panda, Huanhuan is the Olympic Flame, Yingying is the Tibetan Antelope and Nini is the Swallow.

When you put their names together — Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni — they say “Welcome to Beijing,” offering a warm invitation that reflects the mission of Fuwa as young ambassadors for the Olympic Games.

Fuwa also embody both the landscape and the dreams and aspirations of people from every part of the vast country of China. In their origins and their headpieces, you can see the five elements of nature — the sea, forest, fire, earth and sky — all stylistically rendered in ways that represent the deep traditional influences of Chinese folk art and ornamentation.

Spreading Traditional Chinese Good Wishes Wherever They Go

In the ancient culture of China, there is a grand tradition of spreading good wishes through signs and symbols. Each of Fuwa symbolizes a different blessing — and will honor this tradition by carrying their good wishes to the children of the world. Prosperity, happiness, passion, health and good luck will be spread to every continent as Fuwa carry their invitation to Beijing 2008 to every part of the globe.

At the heart of their mission — and through all of their work — Fuwa will seek to unite the world in peace and friendship through the Olympic spirit. Dedicated to helping Beijing 2008 spread its theme of One World, One Dream to every continent, Fuwa reflect the deep desire of the Chinese people to reach out to the world in friendship through the Games — and to invite every man, woman and child to take part in the great celebration of human solidarity that China will host in the light of the flame in 2008.

In China’s traditional culture and art, the fish and water designs are symbols of prosperity and harvest. And so Beibei carries the blessing of prosperity. A fish is also a symbol of surplus in Chinese culture, another measure of a good year and a good life.

The ornamental lines of the water-wave designs are taken from well-known Chinese paintings of the past. Among Fuwa, Beibei is known to be gentle and pure. Strong in water sports, she reflects the blue Olympic ring.

Jingjing makes children smile — and that’s why he brings the blessing of happiness wherever he goes. You can see his joy in the charming naivety of his dancing pose and the lovely wave of his black and white fur. As a national treasure and a protected species, pandas are adored by people everywhere. The lotus designs in Jingjing’s headdress, which are inspired by the porcelain paintings of the Song Dynasty (A.D.960-1234), symbolize the lush forest and the harmonious relationship between man and nature. Jingjing was chosen to represent our desire to protect nature’s gifts — and to preserve the beauty of nature for all generations. Jingjing is charmingly naïve and optimistic. He is an athlete noted for strength who represents the black Olympic ring.

In the intimate circle of Fuwa, Huanhuan is the big brother. He is a child of fire, symbolizing the Olympic Flame and the passion of sport — and passion is the blessing he bestows. Huanhuan stands in the center of Fuwa as the core embodiment of the Olympic spirit. And while he inspires all with the passion to run faster, jump higher and be stronger, he is also open and inviting. Wherever the light of Huanhuan shines, the inviting warmth of Beijing 2008 — and the wishful blessings of the Chinese people — can be felt. The fiery designs of his head ornament are drawn from the famed Dunhuang murals — with just a touch of China’s traditional lucky designs. Huanhuan is outgoing and enthusiastic. He excels at all the ball games and represents the red Olympic ring.

Like all antelopes, Yingying is fast and agile and can swiftly cover great stretches of land as he races across the earth. A symbol of the vastness of China’s landscape, the antelope carries the blessing of health, the strength of body that comes from harmony with nature. Yingying’s flying pose captures the essence of a species unique to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, one of the first animals put under protection in China. The selection of the Tibetan Antelope reflects Beijing’s commitment to a Green Olympics. His head ornament incorporates several decorative styles from the Qinghai-Tibet and Sinkiang cultures and the ethnic design traditions of Western China. Strong in track and field events, Yingying is a quick-witted and agile boy who represents the yellow Olympic ring.

Every spring and summer, the children of Beijing have flown beautiful kites on the currents of wind that blow through the capital. Among the kite designs, the golden-winged swallow is traditionally one of the most popular. Nini’s figure is drawn from this grand tradition of flying designs. Her golden wings symbolize the infinite sky and spread good-luck as a blessing wherever she flies. Swallow is also pronounced “yan” in Chinese, and Yanjing is what Beijing was called as an ancient capital city. Among Fuwa, Nini is as innocent and joyful as a swallow. She is strong in gymnastics and represents the green Olympic ring.

Torch design

Apart from all the marketing items, some other objects have to be designed for the Olympic Games, such as the olympic torch or the medals.

Recent Olympic Torches, the New York Times has a complete collection of Olympic Torches.

Scale Model

• 
  The obverse side　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　The middle part



• 
  The upper part　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　The lower part

Design of the Medal for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games

Obverse face of the medal

Reverse side of the medal

The medal for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games is designed with inspiration coming from “bi”, China’s ancient jade piece inscribed with a dragon pattern. The medals, made of gold and jade, symbolize nobility and virtue and are the embodiment of traditional Chinese values of ethics and honor, sending forth strong Chinese flavor.

The medals are 70mm in diameter and 6mm in thickness. On the front side, the medal adopts standard design prescribed by the International Olympic Committee. While on the back, the medal is inlaid with jade with the Beijing Games emblem engraved in the metal centerpiece. The design inspiration of the medal hook derives from jade “huang”, a ceremonial jade piece with decoration of double dragon pattern and “Pu”, the reed mat pattern.

Noble and elegant, the Beijing Olympic Games medal is a blending of traditional Chinese culture and the Olympic spirit. It gives the winners of the Games great honor and acclamation as recognition of their achievement.

Note: bi, a flat jade disc with a circular hole in the center

Huang, a semi circular jade ornament

Obverse side of the medal and the ribbon

Source:

http://en.beijing2008.cn/news/official/preparation/n214510154.shtml

http://www.designer-daily.com/design-at-the-beijing-olympic-games-985

http://torchrelay.beijing2008.cn/en/image/torchdesign/index.shtml

http://en.beijing2008.cn/spirit/beijing2008/graphic/n214070893.shtml

承启楼 (cheng qi lou) currently has resides 300 people  of 57 families.  It is said that it was built by the 15th generation Hakka living there, now the generation is around 30. It is built at 1709 and used 3 years to complete. Legends say that this building depended hugely on the good weather to complete, it was also called the “天助楼” (heaven aided building). During the peak of its occupancy, it has 600 dwellers of 80 families. It is say if a new bride enters the building, she would need 2 years to know all the people inside , provided if she knew one person a day.

Translated from 客家土楼民居

围屋 ( surrounded houses) is the heritage of the migratory Hakkas.  They reside in the mountainous area and would have to  defend themselves from the nature and the local indigenous people. Due to to these threats,  they have fortified their houses into fortress like structures. Thus, these 围屋 ( surrounded houses) is the combination of Hakka’s civil and military qualities,slowly and independently evolved structures.   Its a easy to guard hard to attack place, a communal , simple contended place to live in.

Due to the the little farming economy, the Hakka living in the structures, either of the same  family or same race, came to help each other, thus generated as self reliant and self sufficient living community. To stay permanent in a foreign land, the hakkas will need to keep a close bond to each other for survival.  No wonder that these house have a close family astmosphere and strong racial culture .

The design, construction and usability of the of 围屋 ( surrounded houses) shows hakka forefathers as a extraordinary and skillful people. As time passes, they formed into different house styles. The Hakka believe in “fengsui” , the structure and formation of the building is building accordance to the surroundings. Thus, these structures will blend nicely with nature.

The 围屋 ( surrounded houses) began during the Tang and Song dynasty but proliferate during the Ming and Qing dynasties. The building method of the Hakka use are from the most advanced from the Hans, using roof beam 抬梁 and combined with the penetrating pillar 穿斗 method. The building material consists of sand, stones , soil and clay. The usual area for these structures is 8-10 hectares , but the biggest can used up to more than 30 hectares.Building of these structures could use up to 5 years , 10 years or even more.The  material for the mud wall is usually clay and “yellow soil ” (黄土) which is  “stickier” and higher in sand content. The mixture cannot be used in its direct form, but it have to go over a process of continuous turning and hoeing until a mature form.  Some used the mixture of yellow soil, white ash and sand, a few even put sugar water and sorghum sauce  into these mixture to make the walls stronger. The foot of these structures are made up by cobblestones, to prevent soaking of flood water. The thickness of the wall decreases as it goes up.

Below are some type of 围屋 (surrounded houses).

五凤楼 (five phoenix building)
This type of house is the most widespread and most in amount. The cultural content is the most complicated. It is the Hakka’s most related structure with the central plains building form. The courtyard formed by the side walls , are plain but elegant, the repeating windows gives a sense of rhythm. If richer families reside, they will adorn the building with colour patterns and cravings.

方形土楼 ( 四角楼) rectangular earthern building
This buildings are the 2nd most widespread buildings followed by the 五凤楼 (five phoenix building). This structure combines the central plains cultural quality of the 五凤楼 (five phoenix building) and the round earthen houses explorative spirit, forms a equilibrium.

圆形土楼 circular earthern building
This building haev defense function. It is built in later periods, populated at the rims of explored land of the forefathers. The inside of the building feels like a maze, rings followed by rings  seems neverending. However, this structure makes uses of the moving spaces and communal spaces , though living in the enclosed area, it doesn’t give the feeling of stuffiness. Also neighbours could see each other from side to side, brings a sense of security.

围龙楼 (encompassing dragon builfing)
By shaping the side buildings of the 五凤楼 (five phoenix building) into shape of a horseshoe  forms the building. It is commonly seen in the Guangdong area. The Backyard is taller than the front yard by 1 metre, sloping at around 30 degrees.  The Hakka believe this is a dragon. the cobblestones are seen as scales of the dragon, it is to remind themselves as descendants of the dragon.

translated from book 广东客家博物馆陈列

The clothing is very commonly worn by the Hakka women. It is seperated into 2 kinds. the short ( 短衫) and the medium long (中长). The short is wore during the beginning of summer to the mid autumn, for the weather is warm, the long medium is wore furing the spring and winter when the weather is much colder. The short  appeal much to the younger hakka girls whilst the medium long are more liken to be worn by the older woman who are wives. the construction of the 2 kinds of clothing is much the same, the buttons are at the right. And they differ in the height and width . The short  used  blue , grey , black and maroon cotton or ko-hemp as the main material. Very few is made of silk. The medium long uses the same material but differs in colour. The medium long colors have much vibrant colours on the sleeves rings and the rim of the buttons. The short mostly doesnt have.

The 大襟衫 (right buttoned unlined garment) is suitable for most age group of the Hakka females. Different HuiAn ‘s short shirt, the hakka however have the value of  “movement without exposing shoulder, sitting without showing the buttock.” The medium long wore are by the wives, older woman . It is suited for many kinds of activity, be it farming, visiting, housework. The uniquity od the clothing is about the conservativeness and not reveling od the body and also to appear plain and simple, elegant. It could also bring out the beauty of the shapely female body.  The right botton design enables the mother a simpler job in breastfeeding.

the short would have a raised collar, coupled with the fabric button and usage of bright colour fabric is eye catching and beautiful

The hans race is the basis of the Central Plain . Hakka as a sub han chinese  due to war and strife, migrates to the south. Though in constant migration, Hakka stubbornly kept central plain heritage, for they feel that there is hope of going back to its homelands.This hope of going back, eventually becomes the pillar of their fighting spirit against hardship as well as enemies.

The hakka are resilent against other clothing culture. For during the 300 year Qing dynasty ruling, the Hakka but still wears the ming Dynasty clothing. However, wearing the Ming dynasty clothings , the hakka call it 唐装, Tang clothings.

If an old grandmother who was well endowed with generation of children and grand children, would wear phoenix headdress and elaborate gown during her funeral. It differs from the normal funeral clothes if one were to pass
away, these special clothing are said to be only wore by the rich women in the Ming Dynasty.

After the Qing Dynasty , the qipao wore by the Manchus was widely spread throughout China. These dress exemplifies the figure of the Chinese woman and formed a characteristizing status in the China clothing. However it was not is used by the hakka female as they found it not practical as they worked in the fields.

Showing of unity and teamwork / family cohensiveness
Migration in modules of family of the same surname and close ties, move into south. Due to Change of environment and fighting off of original inhabitants, requires teamwork as well as the cohesiveness of family members. Unity can seen in hakka clothing. It shows exclusiveness , conservative,  uniform like and the lack of changes among most of the clothings.

The Hakka has value of ancestry , words of wisdom and way of life pass down from generations to generations. Little changes are made to these knowledge.

Woman in Hakka culture has earned much respect and less marginalizes.  Often they share the load of taking care of the family. This is because usually the husband of the family would look for jobs outside the village to support
the family. The wife would have to work to support the family, take care of young and old. Thus, the managerial quality of hakka woman is great. The Hakka families grew their own crops for sustainability as well as source
of income.these tasks often lands into the hands of the Hakka women. Sewing, as a secondary income could also be seen in the Hakka women community. This chore is often done at night, after their work in the fields in the day.

There are little differences between the  man and woman costume, as this shows the working ability of the women as compared to the man are on par. In the social casting , clothing did not differ much, this shows the equality among the hakkas and the value of sharing joys and woes as a whole.

Thriftiness of hakka seen in clothing

Agriculture played an important role in the civilization of China , likewise for the Hakka people. After migrating southwards, they reside in the mountainous area where arable land is scare while the population is huge. A method to
solve the problem is to open up new lands and making them suitable for farming. The Hakka sees this as a method of boosting their economy. There is a say that poor is who have unexplored/un use land, rich is who has no wasted
land. and cant seperate the rich from the soil.

However, the Hakka are not in favourable of being in business, they have a traditional bias against merchants, seeing merchants as unscrupulous. Thus merchandising in the Hakka village are not very popular. The Hakka would have a special day of goods exchange for every five days of work.

The tradition roles for gender in the Central plains are “男耕女织” literally translated as man plough woman sew. However,  the situation in Hakka differs, often man would go out and find jobs, whilst the woman will take over the
“plough” meaning to tend the fields but would also need to sew. As mentioned by a Taiwan Hakka scholar, the Hakkas due to migration, are simple and down to earth, they are very self reliant , wont seek help from outside. This
could also be seen through the cloth The Hakka women are skilled in weaving, during their spare time, they would make cloth from the fibre of pineapple leaves and ramie for summer ,cotton for autumn and winter. It is said that the cloth they weave are strong and resilient to dirt, simple and elegant, cheap and beautiful.  Thus, plain and simple are the biggest unique characteristics in the Hakka clothing, which are made from the cloth.

Simplicity in hakka clothing

The style of clothing in Hakka are uniformed and simple. However, this doesn’t mean that the Hakka are not aware extravagant clothing. The original Tang clothing which the Hakka wore are elaborate and complex. As migrants from
the Central Plains, the hakka knew this. The ” 大襟衫” (right buttoned front unlined  garment) and 大裆裤(“bulky pants”) are the main body of Hakka clothing picked from the Tang heritage, They are chosen for their simple elegance  as well as their practicality and functionality. They are sewed by hakka woman. As the woman are busy in the fields, some details/ motifs are taken out and simplified, this saves money and also save time. It also shows the
frugal attitude of the Hakka.

Translated from 客家服饰文化,  by 郭 凡, 张佑周,  publisher: 福建教育出版社

The Hakkas are traditional and conservative in their values and habits, thus when it comes to clothing, even till now in a modern society, they are still stubbornly sticking to their tradition costume.  This is probably because they are living in the rural mountainous which allow minute influences to seep into their culture.

Men’s  upper Clothing

对襟短衫 ( front button chinese short jacket)

The Hakka males called this wear the 唐装 ( Tang Costume). It is the common wear for the Hakka males be it for working outdoors or indoors. There are little changes to the style of the clothing. The structure of the wear is simple. Thhe top part is narrow and the bottom part is wide. The height of the clothing is short. It is either collarless or having short collar.  It is formed halved at left and righted, the elbow and wrist cloth  are separate cloth that attached to the main 1/2 structure. The back of the left right halves are joined at the spine by sewing. 9 cloth buttons connects at the front.

Prior to the revolution, this clothing is very popular for  the Hakka males, however during the revolution the “Sun Yat Sen wear” took a dominant role. Despite of this, this wear is still wore by the olden male generation, especially in the rural mountains. Two distinctive qualities of the wear, first the material of the wear is sturdy,  the material is hand weave cloth from cotton and ko-hemp. It is lacked of decoration and is  able to withstand against washing, friction and wearing. Secondly, the structure is simple and thus could be easily hand sewn by the women of the hakka community. Be it for tall or short , fat or skinny man ,  the measurements for this cloth functuates only a little, thus is almost a one size fits all. This make creation and mending of the clothing easy. Thirdly, the clothing’s adaptability is  strong.  It is wore by the youths to the elders and also could be worn in many occasions.

The colour design of the wear is often in blue, grey and black. There are little changes to the form and style. For the poorer families,  this wear could be passed down from generations or generations,  mended over and over again.

中长对襟衫 ( medium long chinese jacket)

This garment is also called the 唐装外套 ( Tang overcoat). The style of the garment is similar to the 对襟短衫 ( front button chinese short jacket) .The difference is the width of this wear is wider and the height of the clothing is taller.  The lower part of the wear spreads out  like a fan like shape. This wear is wore in all seasons except in the summer. It is wore as a outer clothing which protect the wearer from cold.  Not only does it protect the wearer from the cold , it also protects the inner wear from getting dirty. The colours is also limited to blue, grey and black, like the 对襟短衫.

马褂 (mandarin jacket)

This clothing is usually wore as an outer coat. It is usually seen wore by the gentry and scholars who reside in the villages as well as the cities. This garment is always coupled with the 长袍 (long gown). The height of the jacket is very short and its length reached at the waist level and up. It overlaps the 长袍 (long gown) at the waist area, wearer having two layer of clothing at the waist.   The material , structure and color of the 马褂 (mandarin jacket) is similar to the 对襟短衫 ( front button chinese short jacket)

长袍 (long gown)

The 长袍 (long gown) is the everyday wear for  the intellects and the gentries. The workers and commoners will not wear them. Some times it is seen as a one piece wear connecting the the upper garment with the lower gown (long dress). The buttons are side right.  The materials used to make the clothing is usually grey and black cotton. The wear gives the wearer a steady outlook.

短褂(背心) singlet

These sleeveless  singlets are wore by the commoner class of the hakkas, those who work outside.  There are typically 2kinds, the front buttoned (对襟) and the side buttoned(大襟). The constructs of the wear is simple,  simple to make, usually made from white and grey cotton. It can be wore in sunny and rainy weather, also it shows the masculinity of the hakka men.  If the weather is cold, it could be worn as a inner garment.

( outer double layer singlet)

The design of the garments is very similar with the 短褂(背心) singlet. It is however an outer wear. It is two layered. Outer is usually black or blue in colour,  inner is grey and white color.  Cotton is optionally fitted in between the layers as padding. It is wore during not so cold conditions. It is also worn as an outer clothing covering long sleeve shirt. It makes the wearer look unrestrained and stylish.

短棉袄,  短皮袄 (short cotton lined jacket, short fur lined jacket)

This wear is wore to kept warm from the extreme cold weather. It is dual layer like the  ( outer double layer singlet).  the colours could be inner black outer grey or vice versa. It could be wore indoors as well as outside . To prevent from getting dirty,  one could wear 中长对襟衫 ( medium long chinese jacket). The buttons could be the front buttoned (对襟) and the side buttoned(大襟).

直襟中长棉袄, 皮袄 ( straight medium cotton lined jacket, straight medium fur lined jacket)

This piece of garment is evolved from the 短棉袄,  短皮袄 (short cotton lined jacket, short fur lined jacket). The height of the garment is taller and the width is wider. It is constructed in similar ways too.  The unique part is about the placement of the buttons with is placed at 1/4 from from the right.  There are two slits at the side of clothing  is to made as pockets as well as to provide protect of the exposed hands from the cold climate. It is usually worn for travelling and sometimes visiting friends and relatives, It is not worn for working . There is also a slight collar. This garment is suitable for the varied age group of guys.

长棉袄, 皮袄 ( long cotton lined jacket, long fur  lined jacket)

This jacket is mostly been worn by the older generation. It is usually worn in colder places and climate. It looked like the 长袍 (long gown) . The buttons are usually constructed at the right and less in the middle.  The method of profuction is similar to the 短棉袄,  短皮袄 (short cotton lined jacket, short fur lined jacket).