Aquatic Centre Chicago

Olympic Aquatic Centre

Our task for the design studio was to make design proposal for an olympic aquatic centre on northerly island for the olympic games in 2016 in Chicago.
Northerly island was the place for two world fares and an airport. Since the airport is closed, the vastness left space for an emergence of a new natural occupation. The abandonment lead to that enclosed situation. That can also be seen as a quality of the island. It is a new natural resort in an exposed situation in the centre of the city.
As opposed to that, an event venue in a network of a strongly city related group of venues, it needs to be significently connected to the city. In that sense it becomes a gateway like a fading between these two antagonistic stages.
The building itself is a permanent structure. Its size and possibilities may replace those current event-venues and organize the current chaotic {trashy} self-organised situation. The Gateway, the fade between Immersion and silence {pictures} defines the shift in the buildings orientation. The city oriented side makes opening gestures in its three elevations with a clear legible vocabulary. It opens a plaza as the main entrance and appears in its strongest iconographical value. The lake and park oriented side reacts by becoming lower.
The organization of the program is a reflection to that formal shift. Entrance, lobby, auditorium, seminar rooms and offices {temporary media centre during the games} are positioned at the north end of the building. The middle part defined by the arena followed by the lake and park oriented most private part of the building. The recreation, practice and changing rooms for the athlets.
This part of the building is divided from the main structure by a courtyard. Also the different orientation of the practice pool makes the more private function legible. This part of the building will have its aftermath use as a indoorpool and a spa.
The construction grid makes this slight shift of the whole geometry. Each truss is an intermediate of the bounding lines. The facade is performing and interacting via the ability to react on use or event. Each of its metal panels can be dynamically opened and generate the blurred or faded appearance. When the building is not in use, the whole facade will be closed. The venue will appear as a monolithic object. Only the entrance plaza and the lake oriented courtyard will offer a chance to look into the building.