The Olympics are here, and despite the controversy that has led up to this year’s games, the sports themselves have been great. Historical moments have already been made, and there are plenty more to come. And, aside from a few issues, the Rio 2016 architecture has held up for the most part. Part of the sailing architecture struggled, and we’ve had a green pool, but nothing else has posed an issue.
We’re not focusing on Rio 2016 today, though. Instead, we’re going to look back at some impressive architecture from past Olympic Games. The amount of man-hours that have gone into these buildings is incredible. Everything has been given the utmost attention to make these buildings turn into spectacles. Let’s use this opportunity to give deserved praise to everyone who worked on them, doing tasks from stud welding to wall painting.
London 2012 – Aquatics Centre
The London 2012 Olympics were impressive for all sorts of reasons, and the incredible architecture was just one of them. Although you could pick on many different buildings, we’re going for the spectacular Aquatics center. The incredible design has made this building live on long in the memory. It was Zaha Hadid who came up with the design for this center.
Sydney 2000 – Olympic Stadium
Sydney’s Olympic Stadium is often forgotten when talking about great architecture, but not here! At the time, the stadium could hold over 115,000 people for the Games. This was the largest capacity stadium to ever host the Olympics. Nowadays, it has been reconfigured, and still holds a respectable 85,000.
Berlin 1936 – Olympic Stadium
The Berlin Olympic Stadium will forever be infamous as Hitler’s message to the world. He had it commissioned for the 1936 Olympic Games. Amazingly, during the war, it survived. It has been modified multiple times over the years, particularly after 1989 when Germany was unified. In fact, the venue even hosted the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final between France and Italy. Remember Zidane’s infamous headbutt? That took place here.
Beijing 2008 – Bird’s Nest Olympic Stadium
If you recall the Beijing Olympics in 2008, you might not remember the Olympic stadium. However, if you mentioned the words “Bird’s Nest”, those memories will probably come flooding back. It got this name due to the incredible design of the structure. However, it has also been clouded by stories of demolition and controversy over the years. Nevertheless, it’s an impressive structure.
Montreal 1976 – Olympic Stadium
The Montreal 1976 Olympic Stadium was designed by Roger Tallibert. Unfortunately, the stadium encountered major issues during construction and wasn’t completed for the Olympics. Despite cost overruns and non-functional features, it was an ambitious and visually striking spectacle. It may not have been the perfect choice in the end, but it was still the home of some memorable moments.
There are many other architecture designs that we could have mentioned today. We’re almost always presented with incredible structures that are easy to marvel at. Hopefully, Rio 2016’s impressive buildings won’t go to waste once this year’s Olympics are over.
