From the creative minds at NewStudio... here's to a Happy Valentines Day!!
Sports & Architecture
With no major disasters or messes, the super bowl held at Minneapolis last week was a success. The bold north theme was lively and welcoming. Despite of the cold weather, fans were seen roaming the streets of Minneapolis at Nicollet Ave. Mall of America recorded a 30% increase in its visitors last weekend.
Such international and local sports events have a major impact on the economic growth of the hosting cities. Tourists and fans contributes to the economy, more jobs are created, and public health is improved. Consequently, such events impact the architectural field. Major renovations, expansions and new projects develop to accommodate the increase in consumers. These development plans do not only include the sports facilities but also city attractions, accommodations, transportation, restaurants and retail business.
In 2016 U.S. Bank Stadium opened its gates to the public. HKS designed the stadium and was inspired by ice formations on St. Anthony’s Falls and Scandinavian Viking longboats. Known as “The People’s Stadium” and home to the Minnesota Vikings NFL team, the stadium was awarded to host the 2018 Super Bowl. Accordingly, the development helped reshape East Town neighborhood to accommodate new offices, retail stores, residential units and a new public green space on the nearby riverfront.
U.S. Bank Stadium - Image courtesy of explore Minnesota.com -http://www.exploreminnesota.com/events/32053/super-bowl-lii
Such leagues not only reshape cities but could also be the initiator of major decisions addressing global challenges. On a broader scale and as announced last September, the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad in 2028 to Los Angeles. LA and Paris as the former hosting city for 2024 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Olympic cooperation. Both cities agreed to work together on sustainability, inclusiveness and innovation. Historically, there were cities founded as Olympic cities and developed to accommodate the spectators and their needs throughout the short period of the games. Some of these cities never became part of the urban fabric, some got abandoned and others were reused and repurposed for military services or universities. LA’s main concept is to use 100% existing and temporary venues with plans to reuse or return all materials to their natural state to avoid the waste.
LA already started their master planning and development of the whole city. The concept extends to four Sports Parks: Downtown, Valley, South Bay and Long Beach. Each Sports Park includes a festive Live Site, sport showcasing, and multiple dining and retail options. More than 75% of the games will be played within the 4 parks offering the fans minimal travel options. LA making use of their existing venues including the Olympic city at UCLA campus along with renovation and improvement projects for existing metro line, Airport, arena, beaches, and convention centers.
LA Master plan-image courtesy of www.Olympic.Org - https://www.olympic.org/la-2028
Sports are fun events that gather people for entertainment and a powerful drive for change, raising awareness for master planning and addressing global challenges.
The Chicago Architecture Biennial
This year I had a chance to visit the Chicago Architecture Biennial that was held at Chicago cultural center. The word “biennial” comes from the Italian word “biennale” which means “every other year” describing an event that happens every 2 years. The first Art Biennial was held in Venice in 1895, "la biennale di Venezia” showing contemporary art work from all over the world and in 1980, architecture section was established which served as an archetype for architecture exhibitions.
The Architecture Biennial brings together architects around the world, it is a hub for inspiration and a host for art to merge and spread. As I grew and studied architecture in Egypt, it was always my dream to cross the Mediterranean and participate in the Venice biennial but never got the chance to. So, this year when I knew that Chicago, the avant-garde city of arts, will host their second architecture biennial for North America, I was very excited and had to be there. The choice to hold the event at the cultural center was great as you can enjoy the walk in the center as much as you enjoy the exhibitions.
Stained glass dome in the Grand Army of the Republic rotunda at the Chicago Cultural Center.
The theme was “make a new history” which provokes the question whether contemporary architecture could make history one day. The interpretation of the vertical and horizontal city of Chicago was the highlight of the biennial.
Two projects caught my Attention at the exhibition, the first one by Charles Waldheim with Harvard GSD office and Siena Scarff Design. The project is an exploration of urban Chicago by redesigning the morphology of the towers based on optimized solar performance. It is interesting to see how ecological studies could change the character of the future city.
The second project was collaboration of 15 architectural firms. The architects were exploring the vertical city by Reinterpreting the Tribune Tower. In this project they built a vertical structure in the same way the city was built by bringing the suburban characters and layering history vertically. Their main theme was to allow for individual expression and to show the city character.
I believe that exhibitions and world fairs could bring the world to us just as travel. They are sources of inspiration and they also open a dialogue to Initiate transformation by bringing together and blending different cultures. These dialogues are essential for our survival and impacts our behavior towards this shared world. Even if boarders cut through it, it remains a shared one globe where every act counts.