The Beijing National Stadium as Media-space

This essay examines the Olympic Games as a media-space which comprises both physical and mediated spatial attributes. Focusing on the Beijing National Stadium it addresses the new post-geographical spatial experiences that are produced by the layering of physicality and digitization. Drawing methodologies from the fields of ethnography, media studies and design studies, we aim to develop an interdisciplinary approach which critically explores the multiple and intertwined dimensions of these hybrid spatial articulations. This takes into account the new transnational public realms that have been opened by diverse forms of social media, and the proliferation of actors in the dissemination and shaping of the Olympic event and its architectures.