Archinect - News 2024-11-21T16:24:15-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/149968313/wilkinson-eyre-designers-of-rio-s-biggest-olympic-stadium-reflect-on-the-games-architectural-legacy Wilkinson Eyre, designers of Rio's biggest Olympic stadium, reflect on the Games' architectural legacy Abigail Banfield 2016-09-14T05:25:00-04:00 >2016-09-18T23:26:35-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/s6/s64p7hp7ll75qaqz.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><p>Following the Olympics&rsquo; closing ceremony, and as September&rsquo;s Paralympic Games continue, international attention has begun to shift to the future of Rio de Janeiro&rsquo;s Olympic sites. These buildings must be built to evolve to accommodate Paralympic and future athletes, and the success of this change will set the precedent for Rio&rsquo;s regeneration in the long term.</p><p>I spoke to Sam Wright of WilkinsonEyre, lead of their sports architecture team, about the firm&rsquo;s Areanas Cariocas project: an incredible 400m long space for 3 venues and 36,000 spectators, making it the largest stadium at the Rio site. Having utilised his knowledge from the firm&rsquo;s creation of <a href="http://archinect.com/news/tag/12611/london-2012" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">London&rsquo;s 2012 Olympic</a> basketball arena, Wright spoke to me about the pressures and privileges of designing this colossal building, and to have, consequently, a huge involvement in the planning of Rio 2016 writ large and the city&rsquo;s regeneration plan overall.</p><p><img title="" alt="" src="http://cdn.archinect.net/images/650x/lc/lc26pjsfi7sp2tqg.jpg"></p><p><strong>What have you learned from your involvement in the London 2012 Legacy that has inform...</strong></p>