Olympics: The Latest Architecture and News

Local governor Toyohito Ikeda of Takamatsu, in Japan, announced that the famous Kagawa Gymnasium will be demolished. Built between 1961 and 1964 by the Pritzker Prize winner Kenzo Tange, the structure is a landmark of the modernist post-war era in Japan. This news has sparked the creation of a petition in an effort to save this 47-year-old monument.

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David Chipperfield Architects Berlin and Arup have unveiled the design of the 2026 Winter Olympic Games arena. The structure will sit in the core of Milano Santa Giulia, a new urban district currently under redevelopment in the south-east of Milan. The new arena will house sports and cultural events with up to 16,000 visitors, and offer individuals of all demographics a vast outdoor area that promotes social gatherings and recreational activities.

Accompanying the ongoing Olympics, Pavilion Tokyo 2021 invited Japanese architects and artists, including Kazuyo Sejima, Sou Fujimoto, Junya Ishigami and Yayoi Kusama, to envision nine temporary structures to be placed in various locations around the National Stadium designed by Kengo Kuma. The initiative showcases experimental interventions within the urban landscape that illustrate a playful take on public space. Also participating in the project are Terunobu Fujimori, Akihisa Hirata, Teppei Fujiwara, as well as artists Makoto Aida and Daito Manabe + Rhizomatiks.

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Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was selected to design the Olympic Village for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics following an international competition of 71 architecture studios from nine different countries. The project is part of the updated Porta Romana Railway Yard Master Plan, and will create a new center of activity in Porta Romana with minimal environmental impact. The self-sufficient project will feature residential, commercial, and public spaces, that change configurations based on the Olympics event.

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Louisiana Channel has released their latest video interview with 3XN founder Kim Herforth Nielsen, in which she reflects on the firm’s design for the Olympic House, the new headquarters for the International Olympic Committee, which is heralded as one of the world’s most sustainable buildings.

Architecture and design firm LPA has designed California's largest ice skating facility in Irvine. Dubbed the Great Park Ice and Five Point Arena, the project combines the largest community ice complex in the region with a training facility for the Anaheim Ducks of the National Hockey League (NHL). The $110 million project was designed around the vision of Ducks owners, Henry and Susan Samueli, to create a public resource that promotes ice sports, health and wellness.

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The apple of every athlete's eye, the Olympic Games direct the gaze of the world onto one host city every two years, showcasing the best that sport has to offer across both summer and winter events. In a haze of feel-good anticipation, the general buzz around the city before during the four week stretch is palpable, with tourists, media and athletes alike generating contributing to the fervour. With almost an almost exclusively positive public response (the majority of Olympic bids are met with 70% approval or higher), the Games become an opportunity for a nation to showcases their culture and all it has to offer. At first glance, it's an opportunity you'd be a fool to miss.

Yet as the dust settles, these ‘lucky’ host cities are often left with structures that lack the relevance and function of their initial, fleeting lives. Empty aquatics centers, derelict running tracks and rarely-used stadiums have become as much a trademark of the Games as the Rings, with the structural maintenance and social implications burdening former hosts for years to come. In recent years, fewer cities have been taking part in the bidding process, suggesting that the impact of the Games is beginning to catch up with the excitement. As many as 12 cities contended for the honor of hosting the 2004 games; only two were put forward for 2024/28.

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Earlier this month, the Winter Olympics was officially opened in South Korea. Laurian Ghinitiou visited PyeongChang to capture the celebrations and the festivities of the Winter Olympic Games. At the Olympic Park, he turned his lens towards the now-famous Vantablack VBx2 building designed by Hyundai and Asif Khan. The pavilion was conceived of as a "narrative" and everything from the facade to the five rooms within -- water, solar, electrolysis, hydrogen fuel stack and recreation of water -- were part of the story.

The unique experience starts from the initial encounter of the pitch-black building at the Olympic Park to the final room where water droplets ripple off the walls. The alluring black facade, for example, embodies the dearth of light in space, as well as the infinite possibilities of the universe. The universe is also the birth place of Hydrogen during the Big Bang and is where the narrative begins.

Hyundai chose to build the complex in the Olympic Park in order to reveal to visitors how Hydrogen energy is conceived, but the designers made sure this was not going to be purely a science experiment. Laurian Ghinitoiu captures how the pavilion is all about novelty, delight, and the visitor experience.

Check out the full series below:

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