The Olympic Games

 
The Olympic games provide architects and designers with the opportunity to use their skills to create projects with specific criteria that will receive international attention.  These projects range from stadiums to villages that can be dismantled as soon as the games are over or they can be become a permanent must-see attraction in the host city.  This summer in Beijing the must-see feature was the Beijing National Stadium, known as The Bird's Nest.  For the 2012 Olympic games in London, the big new feature is the Aquatics Center, which will be "the gateway to the Olympic Park"[1].  The Aquatics Center is designed by Zaha Hadid and after the games it will be open to the public for "community and elite use…The Centre will be part of Stratford City and, along with other projects in the area, will help regenerate the Lower Lea Valley"[2].  For the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver the opportunity isn't so much about celebrity architects making celebrity buildings, but is about using sustainable practices within this village. The village will be expanded, after the games, into a sustainable community called Southeast False Creek [3].  This community "will house 3,000 residents in 1,100 units, including 250 affordable housing units and 100 rental units and…will transform a former industrial brownfield area into a showcase of sustainable living"[4].  The Olympics have always been a showcase of the athletic abilities of the participating countries and the host city always wants to put it's best foot forward by promoting it's athletes and the city itself.  Recently the Olympics have become a showcase for the architects who work to help the host city in its self-promotion.

 

1 & 2:http://www.london2012.com/venues/aquatics-venue.php

3 & 4:http://www.vancouver2010.com/en/competition-schedules-and-venues/venues/-/52756/32528/1x8qres/olympic-and-paralympic-village.html