IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 37
Playing by the rules
Nabbing a spot on the Olympic design podium is a unique
discipline in and of itself. Typically, the design process starts
nine years prior to a Games, well before a city is even anointed
a host by the IOC. Bidding on behalf of a city can be a $50
million process that requires a minimum of three years of
work from design firms, all with no guaranteed payoff.
Chicago architect Tom Kerwin saw this firsthand when he
spearheaded the effort for his city's 2016 bid. At the time he
was a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, and a member
of the mayor's task force that tested feasibility of the Olympics
in the Windy City.
"Because much of our work was pro bono, we wanted it to be
inclusive, so we solicited many firms to help us," Kerwin says.
He notes that Skidmore had deep resources, so it didn't impact
the firm's overall ability to tackle other work. Working on a bid
with his current 70-person firm, bKL Architecture, however,
would be a different story.
"It's hard for smaller firms and up-and-coming talent to get
involved," he says. "Simply dealing with the legal documents
submitted to the IOC was as intense if not more intense than
designing the physical plan for the games."
Fortunately, the IOC recently reduced the submission
requirement from nine steps to three. It's also covering costs
for IOC commission members to visit each city, plus travel
costs and accommodation for delegates who make
presentations to the Committee. Other cities are making effort
to incorporate a more inclusive planning process. Paris 2024
organizers have opened an online platform through which
any member of the public can submit ideas for the Games,
including venue designs, as well as give feedback. The top 100
ideas generated by the site will be submitted to Olympic
organizers at the end of 2016 for review.
In many cases, mega-firms like SOM, AECOM or Populous are
brought in early, when a city first starts exploring an Olympic
bid. They focus on conceptual drivers for the masterplan,
drawing on a deep bench to tackle engineering,
transportation, and sustainable design challenges. Having
been the lead design consultancy for a consortium of five
different companies on the London Games, AECOM has
established itself as one of a handful of go-to international
sports and design firms that can handle large-scale Olympic
planning. The firm's staff includes 10 professionals dedicated
solely to Olympic planning and design, and satellite teams
worldwide in support roles.
But, the experts say, the importance of local participation can't
be underestimated.
"The voice of the design communities within each of those
countries has to be very strong and loudly heard in terms
of representing the best of design for the country in which
the games are held," says AECOM's Bill Hanway, who runs
global sports for the company.
Diplomacy is key, adds Sam Wright, Associate Director in
charge of the Olympic portfolio in the London office of
WilkinsonEyre, which worked on the 2012 Games. Wright
notes that Olympic teams are often made up of design and
engineering firms from across the globe, who not only need
to work together as a cohesive team, but engage with a
number of entities on the other side of the table. In Rio alone,
designers answered to the Rio Games Council, comprised
of representatives from city and state governments, the
Olympic Public Authority, the Brazilian Ministry of Sports,
and of course, the IOC.
"With the Olympics," Wright says, "you're getting far more
consultation with your clients. But in the case of the Games,
that's not one person, it's ten."
The Olympic rings on the facade of
WilkinsonEyre's Olympic basketball
arena in London.
Image courtesy WilkinsonEyre.
PERSPECTIVE
37
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016
Iida Perspective - Spring/summer 2016
Contents
From IIDA
Behind the Issue
Contributors
IIDA Industry Roundtable
Designer Dialogue: The B Corp Wave
Can Design Rock the Vote?
The Politics of Sport
Roundtable: Office Politics
Inspiration
Colophon
Viewpoints
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Iida Perspective - Spring/summer 2016
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 1
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 2
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 3
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Behind the Issue
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Contributors
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - IIDA Industry Roundtable
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 11
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 12
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 13
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 14
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 15
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 16
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 18
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Designer Dialogue: The B Corp Wave
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 24
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Can Design Rock the Vote?
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 28
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 30
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 32
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - The Politics of Sport
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 38
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 40
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Roundtable: Office Politics
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 46
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 48
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 50
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Inspiration
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - 54
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Colophon
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Viewpoints
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2016 - Cover4
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