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The Summer Olympics in Beijing have barely ended, yet designs for stadium events of the 2012 Games in London have already been unveiled.
Along with Peter Cook, head of the building project better known for his revolutionary designs of the 1960s, HOK Sport has been charged with constructing a stadium unlike anything else for the 2012 Olympics, a venue Cook described in The Times magazine as a "really chirpy" building.
HOK Sport's Web site maintains it is one of the world's leading architectural firms and prides itself on the tradition of innovation and the way people view sporting contests.
Architecture Coordinator Richard Armstrong said the concept for the stadium seems sound enough, in theory, but the sustainability theme is a new field in construction.
"They're reputable architects (HOK Sport and Peter Cook). But reputable architects make mistakes," Armstrong said. "It's a part of life."
But the concept seems sound enough, Armstrong said.
"The idea of reusing material ... that's what sustainable is all about. I don't have any reason to believe that they are not being sincere (about green credentials)," Armstrong said.
In the running as host city for the 2016 Games are Chicago; Tokyo; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and Madrid, Spain.
Kinesiology Professor Leslie Bleamaster competed in fencing in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
A reusable stadium that will be passed on to the next Olympic host city seems far-fetched, he said.
"I wish them luck. Not that I'm a skeptic, but four years is a long time," Bleamaster said. "These countries might not even like each other by then."
Senior architects described the stadium as a Lego construct because the primary feature is its ability to shrink from an 80,000-seat venue to a 25,000-seat community venue after the close of the 2012 Olympics.
The stadium will span 40 acres of the Lower Lea Valley in the Stratford district, one of 33 boroughs in East London, and measures 174 feet in height.
On the World Architecture News Web site, a spokesman for the Olympic Delivery Authority said it wants to define a sustainable legacy for the London Olympics using low-impact materials like hemp and recycled shipping containers to minimize materials used while still meeting performance requirements.
The concepts seem grandiose to some, but many are questioning the overall theme, according to various sources such as Building Design, an English-published weekly paper for architects.
Architectural critics that commented on the Building Design Web site describe the heavy emphasis on the recyclability of the stadium as a "cover for lack of financial support," and getting away with subpar engineering based on "green credentials."
The total cost of the new mobile stadium in London is being estimated at 496 million pounds, or $884 million.
Some design reviews found the stadium aesthetically pleasing.
The Commission for Architectural Built Environment, a British government adviser on architecture, urban design and public space, promoted the overall concept because it supports the principle of a temporary stadium.
The commission said the strategy avoids creating another "white elephant," which they say has been the case in other Olympic cities.
And the permanent portion suggests a sunken stadium look that conforms to the grounds of Legacy Parklands, instead of a large archaic building.
The only negative comment the commission offered is how the temporary steel portion will be reused post-Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee and possible host cities for the 2016 Games have only been involved in preliminary discussions, thus far.
Building, a United Kingdom Web site for building, engineering and property recruitment, stated the intent is to reuse temporary steel, seating and scaffolds from the London structure.
Bleamaster said he sees sports as a means to quelling hatred in the human spirit. Bleamaster said the Games in the post-World War II era were meant to show the world was at peace.
Host cities try to demonstrate to the world that they are a prosperous nation, and Bleamaster said that has been true since he participated in the Olympic Games in 1964.
"In China, you definitely see unique architecture. China is a blueprint of what Tokyo did," Bleamaster said. "You could see buildings going up showing how modern Tokyo had become."
Beijing did a lot of the same, beginning with the Olympic stadium, called the Bird's Nest for its lofty and intricate engineering. The host countries use the Olympics to generate profits, Bleamaster said.
The hope of the Olympic Delivery Authority and the site developers is not to create another "white elephant." That will remain unclear until the close of the 2012 Olympics.
The fear of Olympic leftovers becoming a financial burden does not always ring true, Armstrong said. The Los Angeles Coliseum has remained a viable venue since the 1932 Olympics, later playing host to the World Cup, and again as an Olympic venue in the 1984 Summer Games.
Still, the concern of taking on a monstrous project like the Olympics possibly without having secure financial backing worries many British citizens.
Armstrong said he would like to think the host nations would shell out more money to showcase the changes in their economy, but maintains host countries always find a way to alleviate their money woes.
"They all find a way to do it. You could always just tax the natives a little more," Armstrong said, with a laugh.•
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