Hasta La Ideas

The London 2012 Olympic Games are fast approaching, and it is now the time to make sure the Olympic Park will be as aesthetically pleasing as possible.

The School of Design Professor, James Corner and his design studio have been hard at work, designing the Olympic grounds that will surround the Olympic stadium and Aquatics centre. He was selected for the task in December 2011. The task is certainly no game of FoxyBingo or walk in the park. The team was chosen out of a pool of 100 teams who competed for the honour worldwide.

The School of Design Professor is in charge of designing the outside space for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London, and making sure it will reflect the ‘legacy’ of the event. The goal is for the space to continue to be used once the Olympic Games are over, both by tourists and locals.

Many host cities for the Games do not design the Olympic Park with long-term plans in place for afterward. “This project in London has this other dimension of what it will become after the Olympics,” says Corner.

It is a grand transformation in construction, for a side of London that was extremely industrial before the Olympic project. Andrew Altman, the chief executive of Olympic Park Legacy Company, has gushed that the design has “really captured the character of the park as a compelling destination,” both for tourists and the locals.

The design shows the vast gardens planned between the stadium and Aquatics centre, along with the many pathways that will connect them, making the park a fresh destination for the 21st Century.