2012 London Olympic Stadium

Architecture should be people related. Architecture should be directly influenced by the user

Stadium as it is, will no longer be.
Why classical orders?
Why usual sitting areas?
Why stadium as a border?
Why stadium just on the inside?

Olympic stadiums and stadiums in general all have several attributes in common: people, emotions, cheering. All these can be reduced to people and sound, since the people are the ones creating emotions through sound. A stadium without one of these elements loses its meaning.

For creating the 2012 London Olympic Stadium we are making use of the people {users}, as sound emitters and of the sound, as a form generating device. By spectral analysis and 3D soundscapes the shape of the stadium becomes tangible, as a concentration point of sound waves.

Sound is dynamic; therefore the skin of the stadium will react to its emitters through both movement deformations and color changes. The stadium skin is no longer a protective shell or a border, but a bridge, a linkage, between the inside and the outside. Through this exteriorization of the inside happenings, the Olympic Games will be sensed from the exterior as well as from the interior.

The usage of the stadium after the Olympic Games is not predefined and not limited, offering the possibility to change the interior layout.

Generative approach

Starting with a functional diagram, predefining the position of the sound emitters according to the importance of the event, the general layout of the stadium is set.

Returning to the primordial statement that particle emitters are simulations of sound emitters and considering the emitted spheres to be sound waves moving and deforming through space, the idea of letting exactly them determine the interior space emerged. Therefore several study models were needed in order to analyze different spatial layouts.

In order to achieve an improved visual and sound perception sport areas are being separated in semi-individual amphitheatres which are self supporting and flowing into the stadium skin. Through this also the running track is being deformed according to the same laws.

Analyzing the sound waves and the way they interfere {highs, lows and ripples at the intersection points}, the site is also being created, as an Olympic park, creating space for all other typical functions as well as other functions like skate parks, recreation areas, amphitheatres, piers, etc.

The interior as well as the whole stadium structure become part of a dynamic space, a place for people and through people.

For a more detailed view of the design process, videos and the final booklet visit: http://all-2.blogspot.com