Archinect - News

Now that the Olympics have ended, what's in store for Rio's stadiums?

2016-08-23T18:05:00-04:00

Future Arena, the handball venue, will be taken apart and the pieces used to build four schools around the city, each serving 500 students. [...] the city will turn the aquatics stadium into two community swimming centers; the media center will become a high school dorm; and the 300 acres of land on which Barra Olympic Park currently sits will go be turned over for public parks and private development.

In honor of the Olympics, French artist JR installs giant athletes in Rio

2016-08-04T13:16:00-04:00

The French artist who goes by JR, known for flyposting large-scale photographs in cities around the world, has set up shop in Rio, just in time for the Olympic opening ceremony this Friday. As part of his ongoing worldwide Inside Out project, and under the invitation of the IOC, he's installed two giant sculptures of athletes in the city, posed in such a way that Rio itself is their stadium.

One is a diver, in a swan pose over the Barra da Tijuca, the other a high-jumper, curving over the top of the Hilton Santos in the Flamengo neighborhood. The athletes are made from printed fabric stretched over a scaffolding frame, and have been under construction since June.

h/t The Spaces

Check out more news from Rio:

Rio's streets clog with traffic as visitors arrive for the Olympics

2016-08-02T13:43:00-04:00

Special traffic regulations giving priority to athletes and VIP visitors to the Rio 2016 games have caused 20km (12.5 mile) traffic jams in the streets of Rio de Janeiro, days ahead of the opening ceremony. Since the new dedicated Olympic lanes opened on Monday, traffic during the morning rush hour has been reduced to a crawl with average speeds of less than 15 km per hour, according to O Globo.

Opening on Friday, the Rio Olympic Games aren't exactly going smoothly. Athletes are refusing to move into the apparently-incomplete Olympic Village. The city's favelas are "rapidly gentrifying", —displacing families, in the meantime. Workers are dying. Construction contracts for stadiums have been cancelled. And the government is in shambles.

But here at Archinect we're still going to focus on all things game-related for our special August theme, Games. Check out more relevant articles here. And submit to our open call for new versions of that classic real estate game, Monopoly, by Sunday, August 21.

Athletes refuse to move into Rio's Olympic Village, citing “blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring”

2016-07-25T17:09:00-04:00

Sunday was supposed to be move-in day for many athletes, but the leader of the Australian Olympic delegation said its athletes would not be checking in because of problems with the gas, electricity and plumbing. [...] delegations from Britain, New Zealand and other countries were experiencing similar problems in the village, which is in an area of western Rio called Barra da Tijuca.

The official start to the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will go ahead on August 5, despite ongoing concerns over the spread of the Zika virus, political upheaval, economic distress, polluted competition waters, and now, questionable athlete facilities.