Happy Magic Water Park!

We all wondered what the Chinese Government would do with the magnificent buildings it created for the Beijing Olympics once the games were over, and we now have our answer. The famous aquatic center, complete with ETFE pillow exterior cladding, has been transformed into Happy Magic Water Park! With ten different indoor rides, a wave pool and gigantic jellyfish floating from the ceiling, this transformation is truly worthy of the building's award-winning design. Check out the full slideshow at Inhabitat.

First look at the Beijing Olympic Medals

Designed by professor Xiao Yong and a group of Chinese students from the Central Academy of Fine Arts, there's a ring of jade inlaid into each medal.

China will crush us all. Accompanied by music.

If you missed the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Beijing.....Well, I'm sorry for you. You missed something that can only be explained by seeing it, an event that is not likely to be duplicated. Ever. That is of course, until Dubai hosts the Olympics. For those of you who missed it, there are some amazing photos in this set that will make you wish you didn't. For those of you who were among the millions of witnesses, these still photos capture some moments that we will all undoubtedly be talking about for quite some time.

The calm before the storm

A great photo set at Boston.com documenting final preparations for the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing. The efforts China has made seem to be a metaphor for the state of the country, the overpowering scale of government owned buildings against that of human workers, the whitewashing and covering up of anything they don't want us to see, the temporary environmental concerns, etc. etc. Both sad and beautiful at the same time.

Or maybe a giant electric shaver?

The Sinosteel International Plaza in Tinajin, China designed by Beijing architects MAD reminds everyone of something. For me, it's a beehive full of little worker bees, I would feel that way if I worked in this building anyway. For others, it's a cheese grater. Or a giant Mac tower.

No matter what it looks like, its function is pure genius. While the external honeycomb structure looks arbitrary, it supports the building's mass from the outside, freeing up the inside for more functional space. The sizes of windows are also calculated to provide conservation of energy in all seasons. Let's see your cheese grater do that.

Summer of the Monkey

GORILLAZ members Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn have come together once again to create an AMAZING animation sequence based on the story Journey to the West, a legendary Chinese novel from the late 1500s, to build anticipation for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. In the new animated spot, says Hewlett, “the idea is that you tell the entire story of Journey to the West in a two-minute opening sequence, which is basically them on their way to the Olympic stadium…this is going to be the summer of Monkey.”