From White Elephants to Sustainable Venues: The Evolving Story of Olympic Architecture

Maria-Cristina Florian — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 07:30:00 +0000

For cities, hosting an Olympic event represents both an honor, an important opportunity for growth, and a significant challenge. With over 200 nations taking part in the Games, the Olympics are the largest sporting competition in the world. Adapting the public and sporting infrastructure to accommodate this sudden influx of people and the scale of these events runs the risk of misunderstanding the cities’ needs after the closing ceremony, often producing “white elephants” that struggle to adapt to the rhythm and necessities of everyday urban life. Urban transformations are often cited as an advantage of hosting the Olympic Games, as cities are incentivized to invest in their traffic infrastructure, housing, and public spaces. One such example is the city of Paris, which introduced its first metro line on the occasion of hosting the second edition of the Olympic Games in 1900.

AD Classics: Olympiastadion (Munich Olympic Stadium) / Behnisch and Partners & Frei Otto

Luke Fiederer — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 01:00:00 +0000

With peaks and valleys echoing the nearby Alps, the vast canopy of the Munich Olympic Stadium has been a local landmark since the opening of the 1972 Olympics for which it was designed. Intended to present a new face for post-war Germany, the stadium—strikingly Modernist in character—was meant to stand in harmony with its surroundings. Despite these modest intentions, however, controversy surrounded the project from its outset, which centered on skyrocketing costs, the erosion of local heritage, and the grim specter of the country’s own recent past.

Tag: behnisch-and-partners | ArchDaily

From White Elephants to Sustainable Venues: The Evolving Story of Olympic Architecture

AD Classics: Olympiastadion (Munich Olympic Stadium) / Behnisch and Partners & Frei Otto