While there are a "few architectural showpieces, London has not tried to compete with Beijing" in building venues for the '12 Games, according to London Times architectural critic Hugh Pearman in a special to the WALL STREET JOURNAL. No "white-elephant buildings were allowed" for the Games. London's Olympic Stadium is "a minimal structure," and "a success." It manages to be "both functionalist and elegant, notable for its spareness, the openness of its structure and its no-waste aesthetic." Its only fault "is the wrap of twisted tension-held banners that surrounds it, which spoils the purity of the structure." With roughly one-third of the stadium "built below ground, a small, dished arena of 25,000 seats could remain even after the superstructure is dismantled." Even one of the "most dramatic permanent buildings to result from the Games, the aquatics center by Zaha Hadid, is designed to be shrunk." For the Games, it "looks ungainly from the outside, with its steel-framed, fabric-sheathed wings of temporary seating." Inside it "works well." The "diametric opposite of this approach is the timber-clad velodrome by Hopkins Architects and structural engineers Expedition." The venue is also the "best of the bunch." Inspired by the "lean efficiency of both bicycles and sportswear, this is a taut, exemplary building" that cost around US$155M (WSJ.com, 7/24).
FULL METAL JACKET: In Newark, Dave D'Alessandro writes the Olympic Park has a "dystopian-Kubrickian feel, like a city-sized monument to aluminum scaffolding." Some parts of several structures "are temporary, and it will probably be functional." D'Alessandro: "But upon first drive-around, you cringe at the shark-toothed façade of the stadium, and the UFO wreck known as the Aquatic Center." One notable exception "is the saddle-shaped Velodrome, which scarfed up 45 acres of Siberian pine to make the track alone; and the athlete’s village, where every balcony is festooned with a flag of origin, which at least gives the impression that people might be happy to be there" (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 7/25). USA TODAY's Kelly Whiteside writes the athletes' village is "fun," and "looks like a scenic college campus" (USA TODAY, 7/25). U.S. swimmer Natalie Coughlin said, “Compared to Athens and Beijing, the Village is incredible. The food’s really good and I’m not going to lie, it’s really nice to have English” (“Today,” NBC, 7/25).
AMERICAN MADE: In Oklahoma City, Celia Ampel notes Populous Dir of Equestrian Services Todd Gralla "helped design the Olympic equestrian stadium in London." Gralla said that the 26,000-seat stadium, built in London's Greenwich Park, "holds more people than any equestrian facility in the history of the modern Olympic Games." He added that the stadium is also "the first 100 percent temporary Olympic equestrian facility" (OKLAHOMAN, 7/25).
