vigliecca & associados masterplans deodoro olympic park ahead of rio 2016
image © andre motta / heusi action

 

 

 

this august, rio de janeiro will welcome the olympic games for the first time. as part of the enormous event, a number of venues across the brazilian city will host a range of sports. the largest of these campuses is the deodoro olympic park, a site which will host 11 olympic and four paralympic modalities as part of the games. these activities include: canoe slalom, cycling (BMX and mountain bike), field hockey, shooting sport, modern pentathlon, women’s basketball, rugby and equestrian. the paralympic competitions feature wheelchair fencing, shooting, 7-a-side football, and equestrian dressage. the site has been masterplanned by vigliecca & associates, and seeks to bring about a positive legacy once the olympics are over.

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after the games, the youth arena will turn into an athlete improvement training center
image © leonardo finotti

 

 

 

originally created for the pan american games, the deodoro site has existed since 2007. one of the project’s biggest challenges was to adapt the existing facilities to olympic standards, and integrate them with the new buildings. the complexity of the scheme was further enhanced by the steepness of the terrain, the presence of a railway, two roads and a river crossing.

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adjustable shading devices and screens have been applied to the façade
image © leonardo finotti

 

 

 

‘radical’ sports — such as canoe slalom, BMX and mountain biking — have been grouped together, while a public green space, complete with a skate park and a picnic area, is also incorporated. located in one of the city’s most underprivileged areas, the ‘X-park’ seeks to encourage both social and sportive development for the local community — particularly young people.

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the building uses a sports hangar as its concept, spanning a total of 66.5 meters
image © leonardo finotti

 

 

 

built as a new and permanent facility, the canoe slalom stadium is considered one of the most complex structures constructed for rio 2016 — providing an artificial circuit with controlled parameters. the BMX track has been designed considering local topography and prevailing winds — factors that can interfere with the performance of the athletes. the course is made of clay and an extremely thin asphalt, with ripples placed at 10 meter intervals.

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the youth center in the distance, with three field hockey pitches in the foreground
image © gabriel heusi / heusi action

 

 

 

after the games, the youth arena — which will host female basketball and modern pentathlon fencing competitions — will turn into an athlete improvement training center. the building uses a sports hangar concept, spanning a total of 66.5 meters. adjustable shading devices and screens on the façade, as well as exhaust openings on the roof, contribute towards lower maintenance costs.

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the main arena has 2,500 permanent and 5,300 temporary seats
image © leonardo finotti

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the BMX track has been designed in relation to local topography and prevailing winds
image © J. P. engelbrecht / prefeitura do rio

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ripples are placed at 10 meter intervals
image © J. P. engelbrecht / prefeitura do rio

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the canoe slalom stadium is considered to be one of the site’s most complex structures
image © renato sette camara / prefeitura do rio

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the equestrian center
image © andre motta / heusi action

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stables at the rear of the venue
image © andre motta / heusi action

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the deodoro stadium will host the rugby and the modern pentathlon competitions
image © andre motta / heusi action

 

 

project info:

 

location: rio de janeiro, brazil
client: city of rio de janeiro/ministry of sports
site area: 2.6 million sqm
project start: august 2013
scheduled work completion games mode: may, 2016
scheduled work completion legacy mode: december, 2016
total public capacity: 71,800

 

architects in charge: hector vigliecca and luciene quel
project manager: elaine silva
architecture technical manager: ronald werner

 

technical sub-managers:
ronald werner (master plan and youth arena)
fernanda trotti (X-park)
kelly bozzato (olympic field hockey centre)
rafael alcantara, pedro ichimaru (equestrian and existing buildings adaptions)
landscaping: raul pereira and rulian nociti
architects: ana luiza galvao, andré ciampi, andré godinho, angelica larocca, barbara iseli, carolina passos, cintia marino, dalmer ordontis, daniel pizzocolo, fabio ucella, guilherme filocomo, guilherme maia, hernani paiva, juan sebastian longhini, julio bastos, lina correa, lucia viana, lucila pintos, maria elisa fernandes, mariana puglisi, marina piccolo, rebeca grinspum, renato siqueira, thais velasco
operative support: paulo de arruda serra, neli shimizu, deborah giannini, arielli siqueira, caroline picolo, hediane kuasne, laryssa cardoso, luci maie, martha martins

 

engineering and consultancies: focus group (engineering), robert campbell, john felton, damien dungworth (canoe slalon), tom ritzenthaler, johan lindstrom (BMX), pierre michelet (equestrian), david douek, caterina chippari (sustainability), raphael magalhaes, pedro moretti (environmental consultancy), marilia martins (technical specifications consultancy)