Phillip Goad's work is a study of the effect of the Olympic games on the urban form of the two cities that hosted them, Melbourne in 1956 and Sydney in 2000. These two different Olympics were world apart, and strong contrast can be seen.

The Melbourne Olympics were cobbled together post-war, and mostly utilised existing buildings and facilities in the end due to the failure of organisation and lack of funding. As a result, fortunately much older architecture was not lost. Things were stretched to the extent that shooting was held at Williamstown with the cars in the carpark as seating, rowing was held t Ballarrat, and equestrian events at South Africa due to Australia's draconian quarantine laws.

Most of the few new sporting facilities were located at Olympic Park, and these facilities were placed haphazardly but have served Melbourne well since. An edict by Melbourne City Council in 1954 forced the removal of verandahs from buildings in time for the olympics, and this attempt to modernise has left much fine architecture harmed by it.

Design of one of the few new buildings, the Olympic swimming stadium, was won by a team of young architects in a competition. This building not only kick started their careers, but also was the first major use of experimental architecture in Olympic buildings, ad could be claimed to have started the legacy of more inventive Olympic architecture world-wide.

In Sydney by comparison, one major criticism could be aimed at the architecture. There was no design competitions, but rather the construction of the Olympic buildings was won by competitive tendering to build for the lowest price, in line with the currently dominant practices of economic rationalism. As a result, the buildings are all structurally competent, on budget, and house corporate seating arrangements and TV coverage well, but there is little of architectural interest or importance.

Further contrasts can be drawn with the artwork and advertising. In Melbourne, there was no formal art budget, and very little public work was present or created. There was an art exhibition around the same time, but most of the Olympic artwork was decorating retail businesses. Myer's Christmas windows originated at this time and wall art was present elsewhere. Asides from this, there was a huge Olympic torch with a one metre high gas fuelled flame erected over a city street and later removed, and a few very minor works. In contrast, Sydney invested a significant budget into the development of contemporary artworks around the area, and very heavily promoted the event.

For Olympic village accommodation, Melbourne's use of the development of West Heidelberg housing commission estate turned out to be a disaster, as not only was it far from the events but it was far from shops and services and became one of Victoria's worst suburbs in the years after. In Sydney, the Olympic village was built as townhouses suitable to be sold off to the middle class after the event, and these buildings served competently. There are now supporting a rise in denser housing development in the area.

In terms of infrastructure, the Olympics would seem to have been of benefit to both cities, as the sudden need forced infrastructure to be developed that would serve the cities well for following decades. Melbournes trams and trains especially around the MCG were upgraded, and Sydneys Olympic development was made to utilise public transport which will make it operate well into the future, along with other upgrades such as to the airport.

In the conclusion, the Olympics cause a sudden pressure on the city, which is good for forcing new infrastructure projects, but can also be dangerous in the haphazard way the urban form is changed in a race for the event. There are both benefits and losses and it can be very, very different between different olympics at different points in time.

Reference:

Goad, P. 2001, "Competition and Circumstance: Urban Legacies of the Olympics", Debating the City: An Anthology, ed. Barrett, J., Butler-Bowdon, C., Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, Sydney, ch.11 (21p)

12. City Futures 24th May, 2008 02:43:47   [#] 

Comments