Archinect - News

A look back at when architects competed for Olympic glory

2021-07-26T16:21:00-04:00

Friday's Opening Ceremony in Tokyo inaugurated the XXXII Olympiad in a dazzling spectacle that drew praise from audiences worldwide even as a growing protest against the games echoed in streets around the city. Kengo Kuma’s National Stadium provided an ample backdrop for this year’s version of a tradition begun in Ancient Greece and revived again by the progressive Olympic movement that fostered an elementary version of the modern-day games at the end of the 19th century.

Pierre de Coubertin’s intents for a combined international athletic and artistic competition traced its philosophy to the Hellenic notions of mind and body harmony and was formally observed until being dissipated by an indifferent OC as the games became more and more commercialized following World War II.

What has since become an annual exhibition saw its fulfillment in the electric arts program that preceded the ceremonial torch lighting that kicks off the Olympics following the Parade of Nations. Featuring an a...

Alexis Sablone: an MIT architecture graduate with hope for Olympic gold

2021-07-26T15:10:00-04:00

Alexis Sablone is bringing her knowledge of architecture to the Olympics, though not in the way you might expect from a professional artist with degrees in the subject from MIT and Columbia.

The 34-year-old Connecticut native represents the US during this year’s delayed Tokyo Olympic Games, joining the inaugural skateboarding team on their quest for gold.

Sablone, who has been skating since she was 10, is able to compete this year because of a rule that allows Olympic hosts to add different “demonstration” sports to the games every year. The three-time X Games gold medalist has dominated the professional skateboarding circuit since her debut in 2002, earning sponsorships from Converse and wheelmaker Dial Tone along the way.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Alexis Sablone (@suminaynay)

The goofy-footed skater finished her Master’s at MIT in 2016 after using earnings that she made on the pro skate tour to continue her study of the discipline begun while...

Like father, like son for Paul Tange's Tokyo Aquatics Center

2021-07-02T15:25:00-04:00

Father and son duos have been prominent in the past 50 or so years of sports history. Ken Griffey Jr. and his father, the Ripkens, Curry’s, Mannings, and many others. Now, with the Olympic games coming back to their home country, one Pritzker-pedigreed combination is leaving its mark on the sports world in a much different way.

Paul and Kenzo Noritaka Tange are the architects behind designs for two Olympic aquatics venues, spread 57 years apart, that will make history when the games begin in Tokyo later this month.

Aerial view of Tokyo's Yoyogi National Gymnasium, designed by Kenzo Tange and built between 1961 and 1964. Photo: Arne Müseler / arne-mueseler.com / CC-BY-SA-3.0

The elder Tange completed Yoyogi National Gymnasium in time for the 1964 Olympic Summer Games. Featuring a spiral roof structure that the architect said was inspired by suspension bridges and Eero Saarinen’s Ingalls Rink at Yale University, the original Tange building took only two years to build and was finished...

Tokyo's 1964 Olympics architecture remembered

2020-07-31T14:12:00-04:00

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the Olympics’s first postponement: Tokyo 2020, its name unchanged, will now take place in July 2021 if it takes place at all. Yet all around the Japanese capital is the legacy of another Olympics: the 1964 Summer Games, which crowned Tokyo’s 20-year transformation from a firebombed ruin to an ultramodern megalopolis.

NYT art critic Jason Farago takes a look back at the now iconic architectural and visual design — and its transformative power — of the 1964 Olympic Summer Games in the Japanese capital, 19 years after WWII had ended.

"Those first Tokyo Olympics served as a debutante ball for democratic, postwar Japan, which reintroduced itself to the world not only through sport but also through design," writes Farago.

Tokyo 2020 Olympics will be postponed, says IOC member, despite completed venues

2020-03-23T14:46:00-04:00

Veteran International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound told USA TODAY Sports Monday afternoon that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are going to be postponed, likely to 2021, with the details to be worked out in the next four weeks. [...] “It will come in stages,” he said. “We will postpone this and begin to deal with all the ramifications of moving this, which are immense.”

While the IOC has not responded directly to veteran member Dick Pound's statement from today, the Committee did signal its commitment to scenario-planning for "changes to the start date of the Games" yesterday amid new outbreaks of COVID-19 in IOC member countries.

This development comes only days after Japan's announcement of the completion of all new permanent venues for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, including the Kengo Kuma-designed Tokyo National Olympic Stadium.

All construction of permanent Olympic venues in Tokyo is now complete

2020-03-10T12:53:00-04:00

Construction of all new permanent venues for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics is now complete, organizers said Friday, as preparations continue despite worries over the new coronavirus outbreak. The announcement comes as the International Olympic Committee insisted this week that a potential cancellation or postponement of the Games due to the virus was "not mentioned" at a meeting of their Executive Board.

According to Japan Today, the last venue to be completed was the Tokyo Aquatics Center for swimming, diving, and artistic swimming. It will seat 15,000 fans for the Olympic and Paralympic games. "The main pool features a movable wall allowing the 50-meter facility to be converted into two 25-meter pools," reports Japan Today.

Concerning the coronavirus, Japan Today reports that "organizers have been battling to reassure athletes and would-be spectators that the Games remain on track despite the spread of COVID-19."

Face-scanning to make Olympic debut at 2020 Tokyo games

2019-09-18T13:15:00-04:00

Intel is collaborating with NEC to provide "a large-scale face recognition system for the Olympics," said Ricardo Echevarria, general manager of Intel's Olympics program. The system is designed to let Olympics organizers "ensure smoothly secure verification for the over 300,000 people at the games who are accredited," he said. People using it will register with photos from government-issued IDs, he added.

Facial recognition will be used by the organizers to keep track of athletes, staff, volunteers, and other individuals involved with the event. The general public will not be involved in the effort.

The 2020 Olympic games in Tokyo will mark the first time that the event makes wide-spread use of facial recognition software.

Tokyo Olympic Stadium: construction progress 'as planned'

2018-09-10T14:01:00-04:00

But so far, things have remained “on schedule,” and the Olympic stadium is on pace to be completed by the end of next year. [...] Takeo Takahashi, the general manager of the stadium project, told the media that “roughly four-tenths” of the construction has been completed, but the situation is “as planned.”

It's been deliberately quiet around the NEW New National Stadium in Tokyo after the original, winning design by Zaha Hadid Architects was publicly attacked, and eventually officially canceled by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe himself, and a replacement Olympic Stadium scheme was hastily selected from a pool of two established Japanese architects and expedited to break ground in December 2016.

Kengo Kuma's stadium design is currently under construction and scheduled for completion by November 2019.

But things appear to be going well now; the press was even invited by the Japan Sports Council this summer to tour the massive construction site and document the progress.

Japan designs mobile mosques for upcoming 2020 Olympics hospitality

2018-08-29T15:07:00-04:00

The organizers of the upcoming 2020 Olympics in Japan want to ensure that visitors from around the world feel welcomed in their capital [...] Japanese event company, Yasu Project, developed a mobile mosque that will travel throughout the multiple Olympic stadiums. The mosque on wheels is located inside a 25-ton truck, with enough room to fit up to 50 people. It is also equipped with an outdoor rinse station, so that users can participate in a pre-worship cleanse.

In an effort to extend hospitality and cultural inclusion during the 2020 Olympics, Japanese event company Yasu Project has created mobile religious spaces for Muslim attendees. These pop up mosques attempt to solve the issue of limited public and religious infrastructure and the desire for religious spaces.

Mobile mosque designed by Yasu Project for the 2020 Olympics in Japan.

Tokyo launches first autonomous 'robot taxi' ahead of 2020 Olympics

2018-08-29T14:37:00-04:00

A venture firm and a major taxi company began trials of passenger-carrying autonomous taxi services on Monday with an eye on launching the full service around 2020 when Tokyo hosts the Olympics and the Paralympics. ZMP Inc., a Tokyo-based developer of autonomous driving technology, and Hinomaru Kotsu Co., said they are the first in the world to offer autonomous taxi services to fare-paying passengers in the test through Sept. 8.

Other tech companies and automakers have also been testing autonomous driving services in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. If the Tokyo RoboCar MiniVan trial is successful, officials hope to scale up the program to assist with the increased transportation demand during the 2020 Summer Olympics and, beyond that, help the rapidly ageing population in Japan's rural areas get around.

Japan's timber industry deplores the plastic seats of Tokyo's new stadium

2017-10-19T14:05:00-04:00

Dignitaries at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games will obviously get the best seats--those made of wood--but ordinary common folk will have to make do with plastic.

Less than 1 percent of Tokyo's Olympic Stadium seats will be wooden. Those will be allocated for the best views of the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as track and field events. The country's timber industry has been advocating since 2016 to install wooden seats for all the spectators as a symbol of Japan's craftsmanship and to promote the forestry industry.

'We're very disappointed (with the decision). We will still continue to propose that wooden seats be introduced, as making use of this domestic natural resource will prove beneficial to maintaining the mountain environment and preventing disasters (such as landslides),” said Yasuhide Nakayama, head of the federation of Diet members for the promotion of Japan's timber industry.

Kengo Kuma's Tokyo Olympic Stadium breaks ground

2016-12-13T17:29:00-05:00

Tokyo has held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $1.5bn (£1.2bn) national stadium that will host the 2020 Olympic Games. The prime minister, Shinzo Abe, Tokyo’s governor, Yuriko Koike, and other dignitaries attended the event on Sunday at the site of the demolished national stadium that was used during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. [...] The ceremony ended with a video showing how the stadium is expected to look and function once completed by November 2019.

A quick refresher, here are just a few instances of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium saga in the Archinect news:

Japan gunning for Tokyo to take on driverless vehicles by 2020 Olympic Games

2016-09-13T13:12:00-04:00

Tokyo-based Dynamic Map Planning will undertake the task of mapping out roadways in the highest detail to date (featuring such useful insights as curb location, lane height, and limits on turning), intended to be 20 times as precise as current maps [...] The company will also lead the effort to equip Tokyo with digital infrastructure that will allow self-driving vehicles to pick up on factors that can change or appear in their surroundings as often as every few minutes or even seconds

More autonomous driving news from around the world:

Logo design chosen for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

2016-04-25T14:15:00-04:00

Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizers on Monday chose logo A — a stark indigo-and-white checkered circle — as the games’ replacement emblem after the original design was scrapped last year amid claims of plagiarism. The Tokyo 2020 Logo Selection Committee chose the logo from a shortlist of four following a competition open to any resident of Japan aged over 18. Almost 15,000 entries were submitted. The winning logo was designed by Asao Tokolo, a 46-year-old artist [...].

"The design comprises 45 interconnecting pieces forming a checkered pattern known as ichimatsu moyou. Use of the color indigo is intended “to express a refined elegance and sophistication that exemplifies Japan.”"

Previously: 2020 Tokyo Olympics panel launches nationwide call for new logo design

More stories about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the Archinect news:

Tokyo Olympics refusing to pay Zaha Hadid for work on the national stadium

2016-01-14T14:55:00-05:00

The organisers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are refusing to pay a British architect for her designs for its main stadium unless she gives up the copyright and signs what amounts to a gagging order, it has been claimed. Zaha Hadid Architects, which won the original contract to build a state-of-the-art national stadium in the Japanese capital, has reacted angrily to the attempt by the Japan Sports Council to effectively seize ownership of the copyrighted designs.

New details continue to emerge from the dispute between Zaha Hadid Architects and the organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which is rapidly shaping up as one of the most acrimonious conflicts that the profession has witnessed in decades.

According to the Telegraph, the Japan Sports Council (JSC) is refusing to pay the British architect and her firm for the work they completed after initially winning the competition to design a new Olympic stadium. Documents sent to ZHA now demand the firm acquiesce ownership over their copyrighted design as well as sign what sources say amounts to a "gag order."

According to the report, the revised contract agreement stipulates that the JSC is "allowed to use any product of work ... regardless of its copyright." For some, this amounts to admitting that the Kengo Kuma-design borrows heavily from the ZHA stadium, in particular with regards to the entrance, the geometry of the stadium, the landscape design, and structural layout.

The "gag order" implied...

Zaha Hadid issues disappointed statement on Tokyo Olympic Stadium decision

2015-12-22T12:20:00-05:00

Now that the cat is out of the bag and the Japanese government has officially announced Kengo Kuma's stadium proposal as the new winning design for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, all eyes are on Zaha Hadid Architects, design firm of the voluptuous initial winning stadium spaceship which was ultimately pulled back to earth in mid-takeoff by the immense gravity of an outraged public reaction.

Dame Hadid, fighting for a second chance for her redesigned submission until the very last minute, reacted swiftly and issued an expectedly disappointed statement on her website this morning:

“We were honoured to be selected to design a stadium that would enable Japan to welcome the world for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and bring the 2020 Olympic Games to Tokyo, before becoming a new home for Japanese sport for many future generations.

“Sadly the Japanese authorities, with the support of some of those from our own profession in Japan, have colluded to close the doors on the project to the world.

“This shockin...

Kengo Kuma selected for new Tokyo Olympic Stadium

2015-12-22T02:01:00-05:00

The government on Tuesday picked a design by architect Kengo Kuma for the new National Stadium, a building that is expected to become the centerpiece of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. One of two short-listed entries and identified until now only as design A, Kuma’s plan was a joint submission in partnership with construction giant Taisei Corp. The competing design, identified as design B, was by architect Toyo Ito [...].

Last week's rumors turned out to be true - the winning Design A was indeed developed by Kengo Kuma & Associates, beating out Toyo Ito's less successful Design B.

UPDATE: Zaha Hadid issues disappointed statement on Tokyo Olympic Stadium decision

Previously in the Archinect news:

Kengo Kuma & Toyo Ito rumored to be designers behind new Tokyo Olympic Stadium proposals

2015-12-15T17:20:00-05:00

Wood latticework, green shrubbery, sunken sports fields and temple-like touches can be seen in the two final design proposals for Tokyo’s controversial new Olympic Stadium. [...] The new proposals [...] are more understated in style and also smaller in physical form compared to the originally commissioned design. [...] The agency has not named the firms behind the two final designs, although unconfirmed local media reports stated that they were Kengo Kuma and Toyo Ito [...].

Design A - rumored to be by the office of Kengo Kuma.

Design B - believed to come from Toyo Ito's firm.

Which design is your immediate favorite? Who is going to finally build the Japan National Stadium? Let us know in the comment section.

UPDATE: Kengo Kuma selected for new Tokyo Olympic Stadium

Previously in the Archinect news:

2020 Tokyo Olympics panel launches nationwide call for new logo design

2015-11-24T13:58:00-05:00

'We’re expecting at least 10,000 applications this time,' said Ryohei Miyata, head of the selection committee. Only 104 applications were accepted for the previous competition. Applicants this time only have to be 18 or older and a resident of Japan. The committee will accept an entry by a group if the leader of the group meets the age and resident criteria, meaning that people younger than 18 can still take part.

After the Tokyo Olympics organizing committee ran into accusations of plagiarism with their first logo for the Games, the committee is at it again with a second call for submissions. But this time around, they're inviting virtually all residents of Japan to submit their ideas for a new logo, regardless of design experience.

More recent news on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Archinect:

Tokyo's 2020 Olympics won't have Zaha, but it's looking like there will be "Robot Taxi"

Zaha Hadid ineligible to participate in Tokyo Stadium design-build competition

Japanese government hopes to cap Olympic stadium costs at US$1.28 billion

Tokyo's 2020 Olympics won't have Zaha, but it's looking like there will be "Robot Taxi"

2015-11-02T19:24:00-05:00

Tokyo-based Robot Taxi ... is still on track to start field tests of its driverless taxi service in one region of Japan by the end of next March [...] The company, a joint venture between DeNA (one of Japan’s mobile internet pioneers) and ZMP (a robotics firm; tagline “Robot of Everything”) is not building its own cars from scratch. Instead, it’s focusing on adding driverless capabilities to existing cars and designing, creating, and marketing the taxi service.

More on the lead-up to Toky's 2020 Olympic Games:

Zaha Hadid ineligible to participate in Tokyo Stadium design-build competition

2015-09-18T15:38:00-04:00

In the headache-inducing whirlwind regarding Japan's New National Stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Zaha Hadid Architects and Japanese engineering company Nikken Sekkei announced their ineligibility to participate in the design-and-build competition for the stadium's redesign. Why? Because they couldn't secure a construction company for their consortium, which they struggled with after ZHA's previous design was scrapped, mostly due to an inflated ¥252 billion price-tag. ZHA's latest announcement follows a snazzy 23-minute video and a 91-page report they put out last month, wherein they asserted their case for Japan to keep the previous stadium design. Earlier this month, the team intended to submit a new bid for the project.

From Zaha Hadid Architects' New National Stadium Report - August 2015.

But not too surprisingly, ZHA's announcement on their ineligibility is no swan song for their involvement in the project, and they continue to convey the same sense of determination. Despite...

Japanese government hopes to cap Olympic stadium costs at US$1.28 billion

2015-08-28T12:17:00-04:00

The government hopes to cap the cost of building the main stadium for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at ¥155 billion, much lower than the ¥252 billion projected under a recently scrapped plan [...]. The government intends to make sure that the stadium will be built by April 2020. But given the International Olympic Committee’s request that the venue be built by January of that year, it plans to ask a yet-to-be-named contractor to propose shortening its construction schedule, the sources said.

Read more about the troubled New National Stadium Tokyo in the Archinect news:

Not over yet: Zaha Hadid releases 23-minute film pushing for Tokyo Olympic Stadium

2015-08-26T13:47:00-04:00

In an architectural "hail Mary" move, Zaha Hadid Architects put out a 23-minute video stating their case for Japan to keep their embroiled design for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Stadium. When Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe announced approximately five weeks ago that ZHA's design was being dropped, citing concerns over an inflated ¥252 billion price-tag since the initial competition-winning submission, ZHA denied that the design was to blame for the increased cost, and instead placed the responsibility on the less-than-competitive Japanese contractor market.

In the slick, info-laden 23-minute video, Dame Hadid herself makes the case for the stadium: "it was a very serious team of people, of engineers, of architects, who looked at this project for two to three years, so it was an enormous investment. I think it’s a very important project because it has a lot beyond the Olympics, it has a legacy life.” That legacy life is the core justification for every design element that may, at first...

Zaha Hadid reportedly not giving up on Tokyo stadium plans

2015-07-23T13:38:00-04:00

Zaha Hadid, the architect whose plans for the National Stadium have been scrapped, hopes to remain involved in the planning for the centerpiece for the 2020 Olympics, the Japan Sport Council said Thursday. The council said Jim Heverin, a director of Hadid’s company, conveyed her wishes on a fact-finding visit to Japan following the cancellation. [...] Meanwhile, it has been revealed that Japan faces a ¥5.9 billion bill for the work done so far and contracts already signed.

Despite Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pulling the plug on Hadid's stadium design last week due to the unforeseen astronomical costs, the Japan Sport Council is nonetheless on the hook now for ¥5.9 billion (nearly $48 million) for the work that had already been done so far by various parties. Zaha Hadid Architects' fee alone is reportedly $11.88 million — and that's without any damages the firm might seek over the cancelled contract.

Previously:

Zaha's Tokyo Olympic Stadium cancelled – Abe calls for a redesign from scratch

2015-07-17T12:59:00-04:00

After multiple reassurances that Zaha Hadid Architect's design for the Tokyo Olympic Stadium would continue, despite skyrocketing costs since its 2012 announcement and constantly decreasing public favor, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced today that the stadium would be scratched in favor of a complete redesign. The stadium, which was most recently estimated to cost ¥252 billion, had become more and more expensive due to rising construction costs in Japan, NHK World reports.

Zaha Hadid Architects issued a statement on their website responding to the decision, stating that the rising costs were not due to the design per-se, and that the real difficulty was agreeing on an acceptable construction cost. The statement expressed confidence, based on past major stadium experience (such as for the 2012 London Olympic Games), that ZHA could reliably build their design in a cost-effective manner. Public opinion in Japan was not enamored with the design – it had even spawned a satiric...

Japanese slam highly unpopular Tokyo Olympic Stadium design with hilarious memes

2015-07-14T19:33:00-04:00

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.

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 changing its design." Only 13 percent said that they approved.

Here are a few of the cheeky Japanese memes critically expressing their discontent with the pricey design for the 2020 Olympic Stadium:

By Twitter user @nickjil

By Twitter user @AKID_0831

By Twitter user @641236A

By Twitter user @nabe_chan_

By Twitter user @yuki_japantokyo

Head over to Kotaku for more memes.

Recently in the Archinect News: Tokyo will stay the course with Zaha's Olympic stadium

Tokyo will stay the course with Zaha's Olympic stadium

2015-06-26T13:17:00-04:00

Two massive arches that form the backbone of the stadium's roof, a feature that critics blamed for raising construction costs, will remain part of the design.

When confronted with Zaha Hadid's too-big and too-costly design for the 2020 Olympic National Stadium, Tokyo officials decided to go ahead with the designs anyway – or else, add "too late" to that list of descriptors. Any additional major changes to the design (Hadid already scaled back the design after pushback from major Japanese architects) would delay construction too much. Now, construction on the stadium will begin in October of this year, and hopefully be finished by 2019.

Some background on Tokyo's 2020 Olympic National Stadium:

Hadid and Japanese at loggerheads over ‘turtle-like’ Olympic stadium

Zaha Hadid's Tokyo Olympic stadium slammed as a 'monumental mistake' and a 'disgrace to future generations'

Hadid’s stadium for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games ‘to be scaled back’

Zaha Hadid's 2020 Olympic Stadium under fire from Japanese architects

Zaha Hadid Wins Japan National Stadium Design Competition

2012-11-15T12:02:00-05:00

Japan’s Sport Council on Thursday awarded a contract to design and construct a centerpiece, billion-dollar national stadium that forms a key part of Tokyo’s bid to host the 2020 Olympic Games to lauded U.K. firm Zaha Hadid Architects.

Previously: New National Stadium Japan Competition Unveils 11 Finalists

New National Stadium Japan Competition Unveils 11 Finalists

2012-10-30T20:18:00-04:00

Eleven finalists have been announced today in the international design competition for the New National Stadium Japan, including design heavy hitters like Zaha Hadid Architects, SANAA, UNStudio, and Toyo Ito. The finalists, announced by the Japan Sport Council (JSC) and jury chair Tadao Ando, were selected from 46 entries to proceed to the second and final competition round. The final winner will be selected on November 7 and officially announced later that month.