commARCH (Commercial Architecture), May/June 2020

South Koreas PyeongChang Stadium built for the 2018 Winter Olympics for a cool 109 million was demolished after being used only four times The University of Michigan estimated the cost of use per hour to be 10 million Other facilities in host cities such as Sochi were designed to be deconstructed and their materials recycled While redrafting Olympic structures as stadiums for local teams would seem an obvious solution for white elephants in larger markets what about those in cities and towns whose local teams dont draw thousands of fans Around the world unused arenas offer tempting opportunities for adaptive reuse Theres a saying in architecture the greenest building is one that is already built Often these elephants have great bones and were designed by top tier architects Repurposing them to fill alternative community needs can at least help to justify exorbitant taxpayer investments Beijings National Aquatics Center known as the Water Cube held swimming diving and water polo events during the 2008 Summer Olympics and is where Michael Phelps won his eight gold medals Wrapped in a shimmering bubble design the structure won the 2011 National Science Technology Progress Award After the games management was turned over to the Beijing States Assets Co who turned the structure into Asias largest waterpark with 13 waterslides a lazy river a wave pool and a spa The upper floor houses an auditorium a theatre several restaurants bars and a museum of Olympic history In Montreal the velodrome judo arena for the 1976 summer games was repurposed into the Montreal Biodome The original structure designed by French architect Roger Tallibrert maintained its modern space age exterior while the interior was transformed into a cross between a zoo and botanical garden The biodome contains four separate ecosystems which house a large collection of diverse flora and fauna including macaws lynx and penguins When the 1940 Summer Olympics were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II Helsinkis Tennispalatsi or Tennis Palace had already been renovated to accommodate the event Originally designed by architecture student Helge Lundström in 1937 the building was first an auto dealership then a tennis hall and then a basketball stadium when the Games returned to Helsinki in 1952 It deteriorated for decades thereafter slated for demolition until the Palaces architectural and historical value was recognized in the early 1990s Now the Tennispalatsi is a cultural center housing the Helsinki City Art Museum a movie theater and several restaurants Then there are the atypical afterlives Los Angeles Grand Olympic Auditorium from the 1932 Olympics is now a Korean Church The Olympic Village from Lake Placids 1980 Winter Olympics is now a federal correctional facility housing prisoners instead of athletes Sarajevos Mezarje Stadion was turned into a literal graveyard Architects problem solvers by nature offer a constant flow of proposals to repurpose white elephants into something more useful With a minimum amount of will and resources these structures can be transformed into dynamic residential complexes grand education facilities or emergency relief centers for natural disasters and pandemics For now the Olympic flame will remain in Tokyo as a beacon of optimism for the postponed games International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach referred to the flame as the light at the end of a dark tunnel in which the world currently finds itself Tokyos new National Stadium will most likely always have a tenant however worthy but let this situation be an example of the importance of practical planning for international events and their perennial coliseums commARCH 12 Photo credit Kosti Keistinen