“水立方”与“鸟巢”同处于一组群体关系中，构建一种和谐平等的趣味。国家游泳中心要做的是在体育场方案已经确定的条件下，找到一种共生的关系，因此以一个纯净柔美的正方形，表达对主体育场的礼让，并因其自身的优雅气质得到了尊重。用东方的思维来寻求事物间的关系均衡，这是设计师在整个过程中遵循的原则。“肥皂泡”的结构理论赋予了全新的建筑表皮，表面看上去杂乱无章，但结构体系却遵循了严格的数学逻辑。由十二面体和十四面体围合而成的封闭空间成为一个基本几何单元，在空间里无限重复放大，再以一个角度去切割这个空间体，就呈现出建筑的五个立面。而每个多边形上覆盖的ETFE（聚四氟乙烯）气枕，正好契合了“水”的主题，轻灵的结构和材料与建筑理念完美结合在一起。赛后运营在构思过程中就已经确定，并且在奥运之后的改造实施和运营中严格执行，使“水立方“不仅创造了史上最多的奥运游泳纪录，同时也在赛后成为大众旅游娱乐的明星场馆。水立方项目获国家科技进步一等奖，绿色三星运行标志。

The“Water Cube”and“Bird's Nest”are in a same harmonious and equal group relationship. What the national swimming center requires is to find a symbiotic relationship under the condition of determined stadium planning; therefore, a clean and soft square can express its comity to the main stadium, and it can also acquire respect because of its own elegance. It is the principle followed by the designers in the whole process to use the Eastern thought to seek a balanced relationship among the things. The structure theory“soap bubbles”has given it a bran-new building skin; although the surface looks disorder and unsystematic, the structure still abides by the strict mathematical logic. An enclosure space is surrounded by dodecahedron and tetrakaidecahedron, and then it becomes a basic geometry unit, which can be infinitely repeated and amplified, and then cut it at an angle, five different building vertical faces will appear. Moreover, the ETFE air-pillow covering on each polygon will just be in line with the“water” theme, and the light structure and materials will be perfectly in accordance with the architectural idea. The operations after the game have been determined in ideation, and they will be strictly carried out during the reconstruction and operation after the Olympic Games, therefore, such operations will not only make the“Water Cube”create the most swimming records in the Olympic history, but also make it become the stars venue for tourist recreation after the game.