black swans and white elephants: an olympic legacy by wendy smith

‘black swans and white elephants: an olympic legacy’ by wendy smith

a recent graduate from the royal college of art, london-based architect wendy smith has conceived ‘black swans and white elephants: an olympic legacy’, a project determined by a set of principles outlined by popular economist and government mentor nicholas nassim taleb. positioned in a post-olympic near-future, the development offers a series of hypothetical narratives told from the viewpoint of a premium insurance company, an industry refined in the practice of risk assessment and forth-coming estimations. the proposal examines an alternative use for the new olympic venues by deconstructing and remodeling them as a centerpiece for a future, post-london 2012 community. based on thorough and meticulous research, the study of the possibility of integrating a legacy master plan, the newly placed communities of chobham manor and eastwick would benefit from pleasure to governance, recreation and profit.

unlike the millennium dome, whose short-term unpopularity was bolstered up in a boom era, the stadium faces a tougher economic climate with more extreme solutions needed.in smith’s thesis, she questions whether one can harness the momentum of a spiraling ‘black swan’ to be used for encouraging positive associations  with the olympic venues in the inevitable downtime post-games. using the premise that in times of financial struggle, new relationships are formed  between the public and private sector, with private investment dominating the agenda with aim of financial profit. in a competitive market driven by the need for media appreciation, the land becomes a playground for urban renewal, offering a new discourse that distances itself away from the  monopolized environment of a sanitized regeneration policy towards the implementation of generic environments.