2012 Olympic Park London
At the halfway point in the 2012 London Olympic Games we
can enjoy not only our success in winning medals, but satisfaction in
delivering such a major international event with imagination and efficiency. The
Olympic Park is a great achievement. It would be unreasonable to judge a temporary
event by normal criteria, but is it possible to create a high quality
environment at such a mammoth scale for use over a few weeks?
When I visited the Olympic Park on Monday to attend some
preliminary handball matches there was a festival atmosphere.
An unprepossessing entry to the site, approaching
from West Ham through steel security gates, is quickly dispelled by a coherent
landscape design, with the
Athletics Stadium at its centre and bound together by
sculpted landforms with generous paths and spectacular swathes of flowering
meadow.
A background concern at the
Games has been the threat of terrorism and the organisers have done well to
restrict visible security to the screening of visitors entering the site.
The atmosphere is relaxed.
Many of the structures are temporary, some built with more
panache than others, although this might just be a reflection of different
budget constraints.
The hooped surface of
Wilkinson Eyre’s
Basketball Arena and AEW’s timber framed
McDonalds outlets
have distinctive identities, but the
Water Polo building and temporary spectator
stands of the Aquatics Centre appear clumsy.
Many of the buildings are screened off at ground level with fabric
covered standard steel barriers.
This is
a real pity, especially for the Velodrome and the Orbit tower, both dynamic
designs which would otherwise engage well with visitors.
Similarly, there are many tented temporary
structures for security checks, food outlets etc.
The experience on the ground is often governed
more by these modest elements than the grand gestures of ‘object’
architecture.
Would it have been
possible to design screening and secondary accommodation in such a way that it
reinforced the refreshingly bold landscape strategy, rather than created a
barrier between the buildings and their environs?
Hopkins’s
Velodrome* is outstanding, reconciling expressive
form with highly sustainable design.
Although
Hadid’s
Aquatics Centre* is marred by the large temporary spectator stands, in
legacy mode this will surely be a beautiful building, even if the heavy sculptural
structure is less sustainable than that of
the Velodrome.
The handball matches that we attended were played in Make Architect’s
‘
Copper Box’.
This refreshingly unpretentious
building is clad in salvaged copper sheet and destined for use as a flexible
use community sports venue after the Games.
The Athletics Stadium, Orbit tower and Velodrome are well integrated
into the landscape.
Minor criticisms of
the temporary configuration will certainly be forgotten as we see the
development of Olympic Park into an enduring legacy for the 2012 Games. *blogpost 28.04.12
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Approach to the Park from West Ham |
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The bold landscaping unifies the site |
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Crowds watching the big screen |
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The ArcelorMittal Orbit |
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Barriers obstruct many buildings |
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The Basketball Arena and more barriers... |
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The McDonalds outlets are well designed temporary structures |
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The Water Polo Building (left) and the Aquatics Centre |
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The 'Copper Box' |
Inside the 'Copper Box'
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