The London 2012 Games stadium, designed by Populous (HOK Sport), was inaugurated on March 29. Its construction took about 1,000 days, was completed 3 months ahead of schedule and cost £ 10m less than the approved budget.
Such achievements are rare for Olympic epics: as a rule, all numbers change in the course of work in the other direction. Probably the reason for this is the unspoken motto of the London Olympics: "Saving!" As a result, most of the projects were initially very modest and even boring, and critics greeted the completed first velodrome with bewilderment: "Why did it turn out so good?"
The situation around the stadium remained difficult until the last moment: its only non-functional element, a wide lenat placed on the facades of the building - a projection screen, was deleted from the project this year, and its fate remains unclear, although sponsors promised to pay for it. As for the rest, the arena for 80,000 spectators (after the games there will be only 25,000 seats) is a “bare” structure, which, however, made it possible to make it as “green” as possible.
Only one decorative motif was used for the Athletes' Village complex, reports The Architectural Review: Niall McLaughlin Architects decorated its facades with concrete replicas of fragments of the Parthenon frieze kept in the British Museum. They should remind of the homeland of the Olympic Games and serve as a generalized symbol of the path of an image or work through time.
Despite the elegant result, one cannot help but reflect on the fact that these marble reliefs (and their possible return to Athens) have become the cause of constant conflict between Greece and England these days: would such a reminder become a source of quarrels at the Olympics?
And the Olympic Hockey Center (Populous Bureau) will be marked with an unusual color of the field, writes Building Design. For field hockey competitions, the color chosen is blue and the edges of the field will be pink. Until the 1970s, the fields of such stadiums were planted with real grass, then plastic replaced it, which made it possible to increase the pace of the game, but until today it has always been green. However, the London organizers felt that as long as the contrast with the white ball and field markings persisted, its color would not matter.
Meanwhile, greater architectural ambitions can be seen on the other side of the English Channel: the Paris mayor's office has approved the project of the Triangle skyscraper - a structure with a triangular outline 180 m high, 13 m thick and 200 m wide, designed by Herzog & de Meuron. The 40-storey office building will begin construction in 2012-2013 and will be completed in 2016-2017. The project causes discontent among the townspeople, since so far within the boundaries of the “small” Paris, where it will be erected, there is only one high-rise structure - the Montparnasse tower (210 m), which Parisians never tire of cursing, although it was built almost 40 years ago.
Karim Rashid turned to the design of the subway: the "University" station he designed in Naples has just opened. Human consciousness has become the theme of the bright design - according to the author, being in the metro will set passengers up for productive thinking activity, which is important: the station serves many faculties of the city university.
In addition, in the decor, Rachid turned to the theme of love between Dante and Beatrice.
The University is located on the 1st metro line, from both ends of which new stations will open in the coming years, designed by Richard Rogers, Alvaro Siza, Domenique Perrault, Mario Botta and other prominent architects. Other lines are also expanding (and also with the participation of famous masters), and some are being built from scratch.
The British bureau Squire & Partners did not look for work near Africa, but moved to our latitudes: the architects won the competition for the project for the reconstruction of the Imperial Stables on Konyushennaya Square in St. Petersburg, according to Building Design. In the space created by the architect V. P. Stasov in the 1st half.19 century, free-standing structures will be installed.
In their solution will be used "Russian" motives - Faberge eggs, luxury yachts, magnificently decorated churches. Among the selected materials are gold leaf and mosaic. It is planned to include a hotel, a spa, a business center, a restaurant in the complex, as well as to restore the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands, which is also part of the historical complex.
N. F.
