Comprehending the London Olympic Legacy 2012

Understanding the key moves taken in the legacy framework

Learnings from Case studies

London Olympic Legacy Framework - Key Takeaways

From the case study to the Olympic park of the 2012 Olympic Games in London several takeaways can be listed out to in order to plan a holistic framework for the Olympic legacy.

- The first take away, is to position the park as catalyst for city development. By positioning it in proximity of a social-economic neighbourhood, the Olympic Games can raise the standards for living of nearby inhabitants, but also creating a very interesting living and work environment for others.

- To emphasise public transportation and slow traffic as the primary modes of transportation during the Olympic Games, as this can expand transportation options. This can minimise the number of people per transportation option, reducing the size of infrastructure projects. Following that, it will provide more environmentally friendly transportation options to those near the Olympic venue.

- To use the environmental context as a unique design quality to enrich the image and identity of the Olympic site. In this way it will encompass more qualities after the event and is much more relatable to the residents of the host-city as the identity of the place is still captured within the design.

+ Multiple ways the venues of the Olympics are converted to a new purpose.

+ Large halls of media centre prove to be very flexible

+ Transformed according new destination for the specific area

+ Olympic park focussed on low carbon infrastructure.

+ Supported by multiple public transport options.

- Focus on train and metrolines, but less support from buslines, less flexibility in accessibility locally.

- The final takeaway, is to to expand the extent of the Olympic park’s development borders and to extend the good impact of the Olympic design interventions beyond the controlled development border by organising smaller related events and enhancing public space, creating walkways and info stands.

All of these efforts ensure that the Games are not only a one-time financial boost, but have the potential to boost the entire city district towards betterment.

+ Redevelopment incoorporates multiple forms of education and healtcare, distributed evenly.

+ Education and healthcare related to Olympic park, providing safe spaces.

- Initial Olympic programme doesn’t support these type of structures.

+ Olympic venues are positioned on sightlines and are distinctive in architecture.

+ Entrances to Olympic park are marked distinctively + Different identity areas are formed through architecture and landscaping type

Precedent Study

B. Chengdu Tianfu Olympic Sports

City, China

In 2016, after the construction of the Tianfu International Airport in Chengdu, the city sought to establish an Aerotropolis and thrived to position itself as an important pivot city in China.

In 2018, the city’s development goal was to have a world city of sporting events. With the Aerotropolis project being a key driving force, 86 square km land in city’s hi-tech industrial zone was allocated to develop a sports city and an investment of about 26 billion was made and sasaki’s conceptual proposal was chosen and taken forward.

Learnings from Case studies

Tianfu Olympic Sports City - Key Takeaways

The entire sports city which is of 86 square kilometers is organized into three primary districts: the 34 km2 Danjing Mountain : Sports Park, the 12 km2 Central Urban District, and the 40 km2 Sancha Lake : Water Sports Park.

And their overall framework follows 6 core principles: Image from the air, integrated programs, stream or lowland network, local culture, urban thermal comfort and full spectrum fabric. The plan integrates a variety of urban functions and activities, all served by a robust, multi-modal transportation system. The lake loop road is also ideal for events such as marathons and bicycle circuits.

All this, together with an Olympic-inspired 5-color ribbon walk forms the sports axis of the city. When there are no ongoing sporting events, Tianfu Olympic City will be activating itself by emphasizing the integration of these event spaces alongside public recreation and research.

Core Principles 06

While the Tianfu Sports city, aims at creating a framework for a much more larger site area, the values and principlesconsidered and certain design interventions were of great learning experience. Some basic yet strong takeaways from the studied project

Physical Environment Identity

IMPROVE AND INTEGRATE ACTIVATE AND CONNECT ENHANCE AND CREATE FACILITIES

Create new/ better connections

Remove barriers to access

Enhance/create green infrastructure

Pedestrian infrastructure

Create trails of specific purposes to enhance the user experience appreciating the rich - ecological set up

Intergrate local activites

Create Infrastructure that support multiple uses

Create view-point facilties, community centres and interactive public spaces.

Vision

Conceptual Framework for The Urban Green Commons

To strike a balace between the Olympic driven legacy development, and the ecological assets of the neighbourhood, high ambitions for the utilization of the potential found on the site and the creative re-use of its legacy built structures as anchor points for a far-reaching development process, is paramount.

Strategic Goals

Approach towards the framework

The conceptual framework proposed three strategic goals that would help the city, plan and implement the post Olympic legacy development in an integrated manner. The goals addresses themes that are significant in bringing about a holistic approach towards achieving the envisioned transformation

Transformation of the Olympic site into a healthy neighborhood, capturing the value of the rejuvenated land and ecology, to activate and connect the strategic site of Motera and the Sabarmati Riverfront, and re-establish the position of the neighborhood within the city by leveraging the cultural and built assets offered by the Olympic event.

Facilitating Connectedness

The drive for connectedness emphasises how the resilience of open public space systems encourages the improvement of communal, ecological, and cultural aspects.

Nurturing Health And Resilience

The ambition for health asserts that ecological systems and resilience go together with quality spaces for activities and recreation.

Fostering Culture And Identity

The ambition for fostering culture and identity emphasizes creativity in the use of green assets , as the foundation for spaces and programmes that ideate its context and people’s relationship to it.

Framework for Envisioned Transformation

Strategic Goals

Goal 1 : Facilitating Connectedness

Goal 2 : Nurturing Health & Resilience

Goal 3 : Fostering Culture & Identity

Ecology

Accessibility

Recreation

Overarching Principles

Integrated Spatial Framework

The Masterplan is a strategic result of 4 steps: Integration of mobility network with the exisitng networs in place; programming of green open spaces that knits the whole system together, generation of urban form with a few anchors through design drivers that intends to induce culture and identity through interventions.

This chapter explains in detail these 4 steps and further heads towards the forumation of the overall framework.