'I was just a cog in the wheel'

German architect Hans-Martin Renn helped build a ski jumping venue in Zhangjiakou, China. A few days before the start of the Olympic Games, he talks to us about conferences with uninformed party cadres, Chinese binge-drinking, and how it feels to help build a winter sports monument for an authoritarian regime. Marcel Grzanna spoke with Renn.

Last updated: 24. July 2025