http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/10/japans-scaled-down-olympics/7393
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Road Recovery poster
funplaceentertainment.com |
Hello Everyone:
With the Winter holidays bering down us, I'd like to turn your attention to a terrific fund raising event. Road Recovery is holding its 15th Annual Fundraising Goal. Road Recovery is an organization that's dedicated to helping teens at risk. For every $30 donation, one teen dealing with addiction is reached. So far, the organization has impacted the lives of over 50,000 teens. In the coming year, Road Recovery is committed to expanding their services in order to reach 5,000 teens. You can help. If you love reading this blog as much as I love writing it, please go to
http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/roadrecovery. Even if you can't afford the $30 pledge, donate whatever you can. Thanks so much. Now on to the subject
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1964 Tōkyō Olympic gymnasium
Tange, Kenzō
columbia.edu |
The Olympic games are returning to Japan -
ganbate. The prospect of hosting an Olympic games, for any country is exhilarating, to say the very least. In Japan's case, once again the timing could not be better. In the summer of 1964, Japan hosted it's first Olympic games, a mere nineteen years after the total devastation of Allied bombing runs and two nuclear bombs. Japan was originally scheduled to host the 1940 Summer Olympic Games but they were moved to Helsinki, Finland and ultimately cancelled due to World War II. In the wake of the massive destruction and nuclear meltdown at the hand of the Tōhoku Earthquake in 2011, once again the Olympic games are coming to lift the spirits of country. Yet, the proverbial 800-pound gorilla in the room is the cost of putting on the games. After witnessing the building sprees that Beijing and London went on in advance of their hosting duties, Japan is doing what it can to keep costs down.
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Zaha Hadid
achdaily.com |
In mid-October Hakubun Shimomura, the Japanese minister for education, sports, and science told the Diet that the proposed Olympic Stadium, designed by Zaha Hadid, would have to be scaled back. Japanese Olympic officials have estimated that the 80,000 seat stadium would cost $3 billion to build, not the original estimate of $1.3 billion. Big disparity here. Mr. Shimomura deemed "too massive a budget," and called for something more scaled down. Too massive, you think? The decision to dial down the building plans came after a group of prominent Japanese architects gathered together in mid-October to express their concern over the cost, the scope, and the potential damage the project could inflict on Japan's neighbors. The symposium was initiated by 1993 Pritizker Prize winning architect Fumihiko Maki.
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Proposed Olympic Stadium
Zaha Hadid
telegraph.co.uk |
The architects that attended the symposium concurred that Ms. Hadid's stadium, which will be located in a prominent downtown Tōkyō park, needs to be more environmentally sustainable and scaled down in the interest of site context. Sou Fujimoto, one of the attending architects, insists that he is not "fighting Zaha," and tells
Architect's Journal that, "the design could be better." Zaha Hadid is an innovative architect whose work is well-known around the world. Like many well-known architects, she has somewhat of an outsized personality. So it remains to be seen if Ms. Hadid will follow the suggestions of the Japanese architects and scale back her proposed stadium. If anybody heard the call to tone down the scope of the project, it's Hakubun Shimomura.
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London Olympic Aquatic Center
Zaha Hadid
e-architect.co.uk |
According to an
Associated Press report, Mr. Shimomura emphasized that the basic design concept will remain the same and the proposed stadium will still meet the Olympic hosting needs. Ms. Hadid's own firm is no stranger to inflated Olympic building price tags. The Hadid-designed aquatic center designed and built for the London Games in 2012 was originally estimated at $118 million but the final price tag came in at $400 million by the time it was completed. Now I'm pretty sure you're all wondering how did the cost jump by 29.5%, angering United Kingdom Olympic officials. My best guess is materials and labor costs, the usual culprits. I would also venture a guess and say that all the concerned parties also built into the budget a contingency amount of roughly 20%. However a $282 million difference in the estimated cost and the final cost is pretty significant. Understandably, the organizers of the 2020 Tōkyō Olympics want to look for more cost efficient methods to host on the games. In the meantime, Ms. Hadid's office said that they were willing to discuss the suggested design changes. Construction on the new facility is slated to start in 2014. Stay tuned.
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