£1 Mn. prizewinner not unveiled but identity of the Birds Nest designer is ...

In 2002, the Chinese Government Government officials opened a global design competition for the Peking Olympics Stadium . With their entry Numbered B11 Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron collaborated with ArupSport and China Architecture Design & Research Group to win the competition. Contemporary Chinese artist, Ai Weiwei, is also the Artistic Consultant for design.

The above computer generated image of the entry was no doubt envisaged to incorporate the prevalent enveloping smog.

So in the absence of a £1 Mn. prize winner (Identify this man and win £1,000,000 - who is he and why ? ) we can reveal that the person depicted was Jacques Herzog founder of Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. A non - revealing interview full of the sort of self serving guff that architects seem to feel is necessary to explain their buildings is available here.

There is also a stunning gallery of their work here.

Apparently the total cost of producing what is a stunning design (incorporating a sliding roof) was about £250 Mn. Now why don't we just build an identical one for London 2012 ?

"The Olympic Delivery Authority has announced that the stadium will be delivered for a budget of £496m, including inflation and VAT, in line with the budget announced by the Government in March." Press Release on 7th November 2007.

"The stadium's design will be revolutionary as it will largely be a temporary structure, which will be reduced from 80,000 to 25,000 seats after the games," - Wikipedia ( the cost as stated .."does not include dismantling the discarded structure, and neither does it appear to include the cost of the pods, containing facilities like loos, which will also be removed post-Games" ...."Sunday Times reports indicate that the roof structure (a cable stayed roof) will cover approximately two thirds of the stadium's seating, leaving a potential 26,000 spectators exposed to Britain's variable August weather patterns."

Completion of the stadium is expected in summer 2011. Yes Dear.

Lord Patel is willing to bet anyone £1 Mn. that the London Olympic stadium will NOT be completed on time and on budget.