Olympic Games Information Pavilion Design Competition, London Architecture Contest Deadline

Olympic Games Information Pavilion Architecture Competition

Olympic Games Information Pavilion Competition, England – Winners

21 Jul 2011

1st Place

image from [AC-CA]

Jose Carlos Cruz, Ines Guedes, Miguel Santos, Antonio Cruz
JOSÉ CARLOS CRUZ ARQUITECTO, Porto, Portugal

LONDON OLYMPIC GAMES INFORMATION PAVILION

Olympic Games Information Pavilion Competition Winners

When someone thinks about the Olympic Games the most recognizable icon is the Olympic rings followed by the torch. The idea for this competition started from that simple and iconic image.

Why not transform it into a building? By extruding the icon 5 cylinders are obtained, these are resized to a human scale and to comply with the competition brief. The shape is solid on the base and dematerializes into several rings as it goes up allowing the icon to live for itself. It dematerializes in order to create a slope making the icon visible from everywhere in the square. If you come from the National Gallery you are able to see the complete icon, if you are elsewhere you will be able to understand its existence trough the rings that are loosen from the cylinders.

The choice to place the pavilion in the centre of the square was made after studying the existing main pedestrian circuits. The idea was to place it between the fountains where people would be invited to pass through. The cylinders are cut to transform them into a liveable building to inform, to shop, to relax and have a drink.

The colours are of course the ones of the Olympic flag, blue, yellow, black, green, red, and white: each ring has its own colour, and the interior is white that stands for the peace between the peoples. With the influence of Anish Kapoor sculptures the pavilion is cladded with a mirrored surface, promoting interaction and the joyfulness of playing with reflections. By reflecting the surroundings it also allows to rediscover the square, as it is a curved shape you will get different perspectives and views of what you are used to see in Trafalgar Square, “one of the most famous squares in the world” (Written the in the competition br ief). On the other side, this mirrored surface merges the pavilion into the surroundings, highlighting the Olympic rings and the interior space.

Thus interaction is a key word to define the pavilion, as it is in day to day life in the information era we live in: information is interaction. You are invited to play with the information provided: touch screens, and a big interactive map of the Olympic village. Past and future live together on the info provided: on one side, these interactive tools, on the other, emblematic quotes of famous people related to the past Olympic Games stamped on the wall. On the cafe, the interior white curved surface is used for video projection, and the same wall on the exterior has a LED screen, projecting the same video to the square, expanding the experience of the pavilion outside.

If interaction is a key word nowadays, sustainability is another defining concept for responsible living, and our role as architects must attend this goal. The roof is the most exposed area to the sun, thus solar panels are installed on the roof to generate power for use in the pavilion. Our aim in a temporary pavilion is to induce the use of recycled materials. Steel is the world most recycled material. New steel made with recycled material uses as little as 26 per cent of the energy required to make steel from raw materials extracted from nature.

2nd place

image from [AC-CA]

Stephanie Durniak, Marie Fade, Baptiste Franceschi
OH!SOM architects, Marseille, France

3rd place

image from [AC-CA]

Matthew Clare, Rob Duncan
Dowling Duncan & WN Design, San Francisco, USA
Visual: Transparent House

Olympic Games Information Pavilion Competition 2011

Launching on 25 Mar 2011

Organiser: [AC-CA] Architectural Competition

Location: Trafalgar Square, central London

Olympic Games Information Pavilion Architectural Competition

Project

INTRODUCTION

The Olympic Games sees the biggest and most prestigious sporting event in the world being staged for the unprecedented third time in London next year, thus making London the first city in the world to host the modern summer games for a third time.

London is the largest urban zone in the European Union with a cosmopolitan population of over 7.7 million residence. The London Games is being eagerly anticipated by millions of sporting fans around the world. The Games, which officially kicks off on the 27th July 2012 will see the arrival of world’s top athletes and their team officials representing various participating nations, international dignitaries, the Games officials and not to mention millions of supporters and fans.

Trafalgar Square – Olympic Games Information Pavilion site:

photo © webbaviation

AIM OF THIS COMPETITION

The aim of this International competition is to design a temporary, freestanding information pavilion within the world famous Trafalgar Square in the Heart of London during the 2012 Games. The competition hopes to achieve the following:

– Encourage and reward design excellence at a small scale which integrates function, structure, details and the spirit of the games.

– Research, respond to and highlight the unique aspects of designing an information pavilion that will be used by visitors during the games.

– Encourage the employment of sustainable design in all aspects of the proposal.

Trafalgar Square : photograph © Adrian Welch

COMPETITION STRUCTURE

This is a single stage Competition with the aim of identifing the most appropriate proposal, which best satisfies the general and specific objectives of the contest.

Schedule

– Competition Officially Announced – 15 Feb 2011

– Start of Competition and Early Bird registration – 25 Mar to 1 May 2011

– Late Competition Registration – 2 May to 15 Jun 2011

– Closing Date for Submissions – 30 Jun 2011

– Jury Evaluation – 8 Jul – 13 Jul 2011

– Announcement of Winners and posted on www.ac-ca.org – 15 Jul 2011

Fee

Early Bird Registration: US$ 80 from 25 Mar to 1 May 2011

Late Registration: US$ 120 from 2 May to 15 Jun 2011

Entrants may register by filling the form and submitting with payment by Debit/Credit card through a secure gateway.

Prizes

Winning participants will receive prizes totaling US$ 5,400 with the distribution as follows:

1st PRIZE: US$ 3,000 (THREE THOUSAND US DOLLARS)
2nd PRIZE: US$ 1,600 (ONE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED US DOLLARS)
3rd PRIZE: US$ 800 (EIGHT HUNDRED US DOLLARS)
There will also be 7 honorable mentions

For more information please go on www.ac-ca.org to download the script.

Olympic Games Information Pavilion – contest information from [AC-CA]

The second [AC-CA] Architectural Competition:

Alternative Car Park Tower Design Competition, Hong Kong

image from [AC-CA]