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PORTABLE OLYMPIC STADIUM
DOCHO GEORGIEV YEAR 5
UNIT
Y5 DG
LIBERATING OLYMPICS
@unit14_ucl
All work produced by Unit 14 Cover design by Charlie Harris www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2019 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from the publisher.
@unit14_ucl
DOCHO GEORGIEV YEAR 5 Y5 DG
dochili@abv.bg @unit14_ucl
L I B E R AT I N G O LY M P I C S PORTABLE OLYMPIC STADIUM Cape Town, South Africa
T
he research aim of this project is to propose
an architectural solution to the decreasing popularity of the Olympic Games mainly triggered by the chronic negative financial and social impact caused by the legacy of purpose-built sport Olympic venues.
relevant to the design of most other typical Olympic venues or World Cup stadia. By proposing a portable Olympic stadium a lot of the drawbacks associated with hosting the Games would be reduced significantly.
When the flame of the Olympic torch is put out 17 days after the opening ceremony, almost by rule most of the sport venues turn into ‘white elephants’ which are too expensive to maintain, or demolish, while being difficult to find an adequate, revenuegenerating use for them after the Games. By researching and developing a system of lightweight kit-of-parts, designed to be easier to be erected than conventional steel structures and consequently disassembled after the Games, this paper aims to outline a new, more financially and socially responsible alternative model for the Olympics. By assuming that all non-sport dedicated buildings and infrastructure built to host the Olympics (such as transport and energy infrastructure, and all associated accommodation for officials and guests, athletes and media representatives) is actually beneficial for the host, the thesis will focus only on the negative physical legacy caused most often by purpose-built sport venues. Focusing on the design of the biggest and most challenging of all Summer Olympics sport venues in terms of reinventing it into a lightweight portable version, namely the Stadium, the thesis will research the benefits of such kit-of-parts structure, by proposing a model in which the Stadium is owned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and let out to every city that hosts the Games. The research outcome has the potential to be
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All work produced by Unit 14 Unit book design by Charlie Harris www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2019 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmited in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retreival system without permission in writing from the publisher.
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UNIT @unit14_ucl
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M O D E R N C O U R A G E
2019
A
t the center of Unit 14’s academic exploration lies Buckminster Fuller’s ideal of the ‘The Comprehensive Designer’, a master-builder that follows Renaissance principles and a holistic approach. Fuller referred to this ideal of the designer as somebody who is capable of comprehending the ‘integrateable significance’ of specialised findings and is able to realise and coordinate the commonwealth potentials of these discoveries while not disappearing into a career of expertise. Like Fuller, we are opportunists in search of new ideas and their benefits via architectural synthesis. As such Unit 14 is a test bed for exploration and innovation, examining the role of the architect in an environment of continuous change. We are in search of the new, leveraging technologies, workflows and modes of production seen in disciplines outside our own. We test ideas systematically by means of digital as well as physical drawings, models and prototypes. Our work evolves around technological speculation with a research-driven core, generating momentum through astute synthesis. Our propositions are ultimately made through the design of buildings and through the in-depth consideration of structural formation and tectonic constituents. This, coupled with a strong research ethos, will generate new and unprecedented, viable and spectacular proposals. They will be beautiful because of their intelligence - extraordinary findings and the artful integration of those into architecture. Inspired by the audacity of the modernist mind the unit’s work aspires to reinstate the designer’s engagement with all aspects of our profession. Observation and re-examination of every aspect of current civilizatory development enables to project near future scenarios and positions the work as avant garde in the process of designing a comprehensive vision for the future. Societical, technological, cultural, economic as well as political developments propel the investigations with a deep understanding of how they interlink to shape strategies and astute synthesis to determine a design approach. We believe in the multi-objectivity of our design process, where the negotiation of the different objectives becomes a great source of architectural novelty and authorship. We will fight charlatanism with the aid of practical experimentation, scientific knowledge and technology. We find out about how human endeavour, deep desire and visionary thought interrelate as well as advance cultural and technological means while driving civilisation as a highly developed organisation. The underlying principle and observation of our investigations will be that futurist speculation inspires and ultimately brings about significant change. Supported by competent research the work is the search for modernist courage aiming to amplify found nuclei into imaginative tales with architectural visions fuelled by speculation. Thanks to: RSHP, Zaha Hadid Architects, DKFS Architects, Heatherwick Studio, Amanda Levete Architects, Seth Stein Architects, Cundal Engineering, DaeWha Kang Design, Uni Stuttgart ITKE
UNIT 14 @unit14_ucl
All work produced by Unit 14 Unit book design by Charlie Harris www.bartlett.ucl.ac.uk/architecture Copyright 2019 The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmited in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retreival system without permission in writing from the publisher.