Architecture of the Olympics

Everyone is getting into the Olympic spirit and so am I in my own way. I have decided to look at the architecture of the main olympic facilities, though I have already looked at the Olympic Orbiter in a Pevious post.

The london Olympic stadium

The Olympic stadium is the centre piece of the London 2012 Olympic and Para olympic Games. Work started on the stadium in 2007 and finished in 2011 at a cost of £468 million causing concern about the amount of money being spent on the Olympics. The stadium was designed by the Architecture firm Populous who are an experienced stadium. The Architects state that the design is totally fixated on the olympics and then can be transformed for long term usage. The repeated triangular ring around the stadium makes it look like a crown which is fitting seen as it is the crown jewel of the London 2012 Olympic games.

The Aquatics centre

Ground broke in July 2008 and took another 3 years to be completed at a cost of £269 million. It is one of my most favourite buildings from the Olympic facilities with its elegant form based upon the the fluidity and movement of water which is both in tune with its function but also sympathetic to the river landscape that the olympic park is set within. The Architect for the aquatics centre is the award winning Zaha Hadid.

London Velopark

The Velodrome is a part of the London Velopark designed by Hopkins Architects. The form of the building is inspired by the bicycles ergonomics and efficency and was a great response to the brief by using the most elegant and simple materials keeping the Velodrome on Budget. It cost £105 million and took 2 years to build.

Copper box

The copper box is a relativley small venue that will hos t sports events such as the handball event and the modern pentathalon. After the Olympics it will be transformed into the sports centre that will serve the local comunity. The architects behind this venue is MAKEarchitects, and Populous.

The olympic venues will be put to good use after the games for instance a new univesity specailised in sports science will be founded and there will be housing from the olympic village as well as more housing being built in the area.