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As Los Angeles moves closer to bidding for the 2024 Summer Olympics, officials said they can host the massive 17-day sporting event for $4.1 billion and offered to guarantee that the city will cover any cost overruns. [...]
Garcetti and his team have proposed to spend $500 million less than what Boston had planned and expect to finish with a $150-million surplus by generating billions in broadcast and sponsorship revenue.
— latimes.com
Related Olympic news on Archinect:Will Rio's Olympic venues be ready in time for the 2016 Games?Boston backs out of 2024 Olympics bidToronto ventures into sixth bid to host Olympic GamesZaha's Tokyo Olympic Stadium cancelled – Abe calls for a redesign from scratch View full entry
'When these [2007 Pan Am] venues were built the government told Brazilians that these would be Olympic-ready, and there would be a rather smooth and efficient transition to eventually hosting the Olympics,' explained Rio-based reporter Taylor Barnes...'But, these venues have instead had some pretty checkered after-lives.' — pri.org
Despite a murky past of broken promises in addition to recent water-safety concerns and rampant economic turmoil, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes claims construction of the venues are on schedule and will be delivered on time for the 2016 Olympics -- which will begin one year from now. Public... View full entry
The United States Olympic Committee said Monday that it was withdrawing Boston as its proposed bid city because resistance among residents was too great to overcome in the short time that remained before the committee had to formally propose a bid city by Sept. 15. [...]
U.S.O.C. intended to move quickly to prepare a bid from another city. While he did not mention Los Angeles by name, many people involved in the Olympics expect Los Angeles to enter the competition.
— nytimes.com
More news from the 2020 and 2024 Olympics:Zaha's Tokyo Olympic Stadium cancelled – Abe calls for a redesign from scratchDavid Manfredi, the architect behind Boston’s 2024 Olympic bidBoston wins U.S. Olympic Committee's bid for 2024 GamesWhich U.S. city will win the 2024 Olympic bid? Boston... View full entry
World-famous architect Tadao Ando was astonished to learn that the design he chose for the new National Stadium would cost ¥252 billion to build, he said at a press conference Thursday, where he spoke for the first time since the swelling cost became an issue. — The Japan News
According to Reuters, the massive ballooning in the construction costs of Zaha Hadid's relatively unpopular proposed design for Japan's National Stadium are not the fault of the chairman of the design committee, Tadao Ando: "Soaring construction and labor costs, along with a rise in Japan's... View full entry
The price tag for 2020 Tokyo Olympic stadium is now a whopping $2.1 billion. That’s more than the stadiums for the past three summer Olympic stadiums combined. That’s pretty silly! So is the stadium’s new Photoshop meme. — kotaku.com
With the current estimated cost for Zaha Hadid 's stadium design clocking in at more than $2 billion (that's $700 million more than the initial estimate), a recent poll by Japanese news network NHK found that "81 percent of respondents say they disapprove of the plan to build the stadium without... View full entry
Whatever your feelings are toward the Olympic Games, plans for the upcoming U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum and Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs are pushing forward so far. For starters, the Museum unveiled Diller Scofidio + Renfro's initial design concepts for the 60,000 sq.ft building, set to... View full entry
“Boston is a global hub for education, health care, research and technology,” said Boston2024 chairman and Suffolk Construction CEO John Fish in a statement. “We are passionate about sports because we believe in the power of sport to transform our city and inspire the world’s youth. A Boston Games can be one of the most innovative, sustainable and exciting in history and will inspire the next generation of leaders here and around the world.” — boston.com
Previous news on the 2024 Olympics: U.S. in the race for 2024 Olympics, no host city picked yet and Which U.S. city will win the 2024 Olympic bid? Boston, LA, DC and SF duke it outNot all Bostonians are happy with the decision. According to the same boston.com article:"Boston’s bid has... View full entry
The United States Olympic Committee seems ready to bid for the 2024 Summer Games. But the hard part is deciding which of the four finalists — Boston, Washington, Los Angeles and San Francisco — has the best chance of being chosen by the International Olympic Committee. The U.S.O.C. could make its selection as soon as this week, so we asked New York Times reporters in each city to describe the view from each place. — nytimes.com
Some tastier nuggets from each city's reporter:Boston: "Boston’s modest $4.5 billion proposal envisions a new Olympic model: a walkable, bikeable, sustainable Games that uses mostly pre-existing structures. This compact city of 646,000 plans a downsized, compressed, antisprawl Olympics. No... View full entry
The United States Olympic Committee board of directors unanimously approved a U.S. bid to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the USOC announced today. Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., remain under consideration, with the selection of a U.S. bid city to be made in early 2015. [...]
“All four cities have presented plans that are part of the long-term visions for their communities,” said USOC CEO Scott Blackmun.
— teamusa.org
Friday, September 5:Beijing public transit commuters can now pay fares with empty bottles: Beijingers can insert a recyclable bottle and receive equivalent rebates in train fares or mobile phone credits.Community Bus Stops Transform Brazil: Thousands of Brazil's bus stops are unmarked, leading... View full entry
Later this month, about 900 of the 1,500 families who live in Vila União will start to move out to make way for the TransOlímpica rapid bus system (BRT) to be built for the 2016 Rio Olympics. It is one of the biggest favela resettlements since Rio was chosen to host the games, with some 500 families also resettled from 2010 to 2011 for the construction of the TransOeste BRT. — Al Jazeera
We are very sad to learn of the passing of amazing designer Deborah Sussman, who died this morning after a battle with cancer." — @DesignObserver — Twitter
Designer Deborah Sussman passed away this morning at age 83.Perhaps best known for her environmental and graphic design for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Sussman began her career working as an office designer for Charles and Ray Eames in the 1950s. She founded her own firm in 1968, and... View full entry
Friday, August 15 Farewell to the Old Okura: The famous Hotel Okura, built in the 1960s in a distinctive fusion of modern and traditional Japanese styles, is closing in response to prohibitive earthquake retrofits and larger, newer hotels in the area.Samsung Acquires SmartThings, A Fast-Growing... View full entry
It was billed as a chance to transform Greece's image abroad and boost growth but 10 years after the country hosted the world's greatest sporting extravaganza there is little to celebrate at the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games. [...]
For Greeks who swelled with pride at the time, the Games are now a source of anger as the country struggles through a six-year depression, record unemployment, homelessness and poverty.
Greece has struggled to generate revenue from the venues.
— uk.reuters.com
In Case You Missed It, a look back at the major happenings from last week's News.Friday, July 25Families Removed From 'Tower of David' Skyscraper Slum: Venezuelans initially began living in the abandoned office towers in 2007, due to the country's burgeoning financial crisis. They are now being... View full entry