Temporary Olympic Architecture.

July 18, 2012

The Olympics start soon! This summer is shaping up to be an excellent season for the sporting spectator and we are super excited. not only will we be watching the events closely but also paying attention to the facilities they utilize. The various stadiums and facilities that have been constructed for the London Olympics have received luke warm reviews. Nothing like the exuberance with which people talked about the Beijing Olympic venues. However many of the London Olympic venues provide a great response to the problems of long term use that have hampered the Beijing facilities, discussed in depth by this npr article . This audio slideshow from the BBC has some interesting information about a number of the venues and discussion from architects about the temporary nature of many of the stadiums. Many of the projects feature some type of tensile structure and membrane . Will this Olympics be remembered for its temporary architecture? or will people look past the plastic wrap buildings and only remember the competitive events that took place inside them?