The XXII Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, are said to have cost around US$50 billion, which makes them the most expensive Games to date. The bill includes many new buildings and the first ever Winter Olympic Park, planned by stadium designers Populous, who also created the Fisht stadium, venue for the opening and closing ceremonies. But the lack of big-name architects is noticeable, as is the fact that most of the venues are designed for re-use; some will even be dismantled and moved elsewhere after the Games.
The Fisht Olympic Stadium
The Fisht Olympic stadium, used for the opening and closing ceremonies, is the only structure in the Coastal Cluster (the group of indoor arenas around the Olympic Park and located near the coast) to be completed by an established Western architecture firm, Populous. The company worked with a consortium of Russian design-construction firms including Ingeokom, Mosproekt-4 and Botta Management Group. Named after a nearby mountain peak, the stadium design is a first for such a large-scale building in Russia. The form was meant to resemble the snowy peaks surrounding the Black Sea resort area, but the innovation is in its use of the material EFTE (Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene)
ETFE is a lightweight material that is translucent and gives thermal protection, but lets in a sufficient amount and quality of natural light for grass to grow beneath it. Here the architects spent a lot of time in consultation with engineers to achieve a unique effect. They applied inflatable, "pillow-like" material in sections that resemble fish scales, but were carefully designed to give a cloud-like impression when viewed from inside.
The material also helped to enhance those spectacular lighting effects we saw during the opening ceremony. The tripartite roof structure includes a middle section that will only be used for the Olympic ceremonies and will be removed after the Games. The main level of the stadium is elevated on a landscaped mound so spectators, rather than being enveloped by towering walls, have views over the Olympic park.
Populous was also responsible for the master plan of the Olympic park, the first such park built for a Winter Olympics. After the Games, the Fisht Stadium will be used for Russian and FIFA World Cup football matches, and will host other entertainment events. As such, it was designed with a flexible capacity, which means that it can accommodate crowds of up to 45,000 people, but can also be scaled down internally so that smaller crowds of say 25,000 can enjoy a slightly more intimate atmospheric experience.
Source: Gizmag
